Since Dr. Mehmat Oz won the GOP nomination in Pennsylvania to run for the state’s open senate seat, he’s been running one of the most tepid campaigns I’ve ever seen. His opponent, Democrat John Fetterman, suffered a stroke last May after admittedly ignoring his doctor for years and hasn’t been seen on the campaign trail since.

Despite those obvious issues surrounding Fetterman’s health, Oz has attempted to take the high road. Predictably, Fetterman hasn’t returned the favor and has been viciously attacking Oz as being from New Jersey on social media. In fact, the Democrat’s entire campaign has been to make that charge over and over. It’s to the point where it’s become a meme.

pic.twitter.com/cn59IQo0MX

— Bucks County PAtriot 🇻🇦🇺🇸 (@ajhpa01) August 2, 2022

While I’m on record as thinking Oz is a bad candidate and that it was a mistake for Donald Trump to endorse him, the lack of fight being put up was still inexcusable. You expect a Republican in a competitive race to put the pedal to the metal. The gloves finally came off on Friday, though, and not a moment too soon.

Quite the statement from the Oz campaign to @NBCNews in response to rival Fetterman's return to the campaign trail. Campaign manager Casey Contres tells me Fetterman is a "spoiled man-child" and calls him out for "hiding in his basement scrolling social media for months" pic.twitter.com/GJ4h5TnsRs

— Dasha Burns (@DashaBurns) August 5, 2022

Fetterman is indeed a “spoiled man-child,” and in more ways than one. He was supported by his millionaire parents well into his late 40s while serving as mayor of a small town, and it’s fair to say that he’s never held a real job in adulthood, being a consummate public leech. He’s also an ogre of a man and deeply unhealthy by his own choice. In July, it was reported he couldn’t even speak properly following his stroke. Yet, he’s received rave reviews for his Twitter slams of Oz, which have been magnified by his too-online bot army. The result is a campaign that seems far more effective than it likely is.

The attack on Fetterman that he’s afraid to defend his record and policy views is also fair. While the Democrat attempts to paint himself as a working-class everyman (a fake persona as explained above), the reality is that he’s basically Bernie Sanders with no hair. Fetterman supports banning fracking. He supports biological males competing against females in sports. He supports letting criminals out of jail prematurely. He’s also a supporter of universal healthcare.

There is no daylight between Fetterman’s positions and those of the radical left because he’s part of the radical left. His strategy of hiding in the basement has protected him so far, but soon enough, he will have to debate and he will have to campaign. That’s when the game really begins.

Oz has to press all of Fetterman’s weaknesses going forward. This is not a race where he can float above the fray because his opponent isn’t going to allow that to happen. The Democrat is purposely avoiding public scrutiny and the media will not help out by holding him to account. It’s time to make Fetterman’s ill health an issue. It’s also time to get in the mud over the fact that he’s a bum of a politician and not at all who he says he is.