Fetterman’s rocky debate raises anxiety among Democrats

By STEVE PEOPLES and MARC LEVY
Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A new sense of uncertainty has risen over Pennsylvania’s pivotal Senate contest. Democrats are struggling to remain optimistic about John Fetterman’s candidacy after a rocky debate performance. Fetterman took the debate stage Tuesday five months after suffering a stroke. He struggled to complete sentences, and he jumbled words throughout the hourlong event. That was not a surprise for those voters who know him best — Fetterman has never been a smooth orator. But it stirred a fresh sense of anxiety among party leaders and rank-and-file voters. Fetterman’s campaign set up a rally for Wednesday night and released a new advertisement seizing on Oz’s comments that abortion laws should be decided partly by “local political leaders.”