Samuel Case, FISM News
Democratic party leaders including President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and former President Barack Obama are visiting Pennsylvania to build enthusiasm for Senate candidate John Fetterman, whose polling dipped considerably following last week’s debate against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz.
A Democratic insider told Axios last week that Biden and Obama will be stumping for Fetterman in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas on November 5th, only days before the election. They will also be touting gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro who has a strong lead against Republican Doug Mastriano.
Biden and Harris made an appearance at a Pennsylvania Democratic Party dinner on Saturday, where Biden tried to rally support for the downward-trending candidate.
“Democracy is on the ballot this year,” Biden said over the weekend. “Along with your right to choose, and your right to privacy. And the amazing thing is they’re saying it out loud.”
“John has got a lot of experience serving the state as mayor and then as lieutenant governor,” Biden said of Fetterman, saying the candidate “has enormous integrity.”
Obama recently cut an ad for Pennsylvania Democrats where he touched on similar topics.
“In Pennsylvania you’ve got some important choices to make this year,” Obama says in the ad. “So when the fate of our democracy and a woman’s right to choose are on the line, vote Democrat on November 8.”
Axios notes that Biden had not led a single midterm rally up to this point, as compared to President Trump who rallied in 26 cities to drum up support for party candidates in 2018 and Obama who stumped for candidates in 14 cities in 2014.
As of Monday, Real Clear Politics (RCP) polling average shows Fetterman with a slight 1.5 point lead over Oz, but RCP still projects that Oz will win the seat.
Meanwhile, in the governor’s race, Shapiro holds a comfortable 6.7-point advantage according to the same metrics. RCP predicts Shapiro will take the governorship.