John Fetterman has been playing a very public game of pretend moderation for months now.
But his Democrat colleagues are starting to feel the sting of it personally.
And Democrats just found out the hard way that Fetterman’s act comes with a real political cost.
Fetterman Sits Out the Fight McCormick Needs Him to Join
Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) told Politico recently that he has no plans to campaign against Dave McCormick, the Republican who currently holds Pennsylvania’s other US Senate seat and fis up for re-election in 2030.
“I’m not going to be involved,” Fetterman said flatly.
That’s a striking posture for a sitting senator to take toward a Senator from the other party since the job of the minority party is to become the majority.
Fetterman framed his neutrality as a matter of principle, suggesting he doesn’t want to wade into races where he wasn’t asked or where his involvement could complicate things.
But that explanation is doing a lot of work for a very thin rationale.
The Moderate Costume Fetterman Keeps Wearing
Here’s what voters in Pennsylvania and across the country should understand about John Fetterman: the man is not a moderate.
He is a reliable Democrat vote who supports abortion on demand, gun control measures, amnesty for illegal aliens, and transgender surgeries for minors.
His record in the Senate tracks almost perfectly with the left wing of his party when votes actually count.
What Fetterman has mastered is the performance of independence. He wears Carhartt. He talks plainly. He occasionally says something that sounds vaguely heterodox and collects a week’s worth of glowing press coverage from outlets desperate to find a Democrat who doesn’t sound like a campus activist.
And it works. At least on people who aren’t paying close attention to the votes.
The neutrality toward McCormick fits neatly into this strategy. Fetterman gets to look like he’s above the partisan fray while doing absolutely nothing that costs obstructs the left-wing agenda when it comes time to vote.
Sitting out McCormick’s race lets him preserve that image without actually becoming a different kind of senator.
What McCormick’s Problem Actually Reveals
Pennsylvania is the quintessential swing state,
McCormick narrowly ousted Democrat Bob Casey in 2024.
And McCormick is up for re-election in 2030, a midterm election year.
That means Democrats would circle McCormick’s seat as a prime pickup opportunity.
Fetterman is playing a 2028 game.
Fetterman knows Democrats despise him, as CNN data analyst Harry Enten noted that Fetterman’s popularity plunged 108 points among Democrats.
When Fetterman runs for re-election in 2028, his only chance to remain in office is to peel off enough independents and Republicans.
That’s why Fetterman is pledging to take it easy on McCormick, so he can build up his supposed “moderate” bona fides while continuing to vote with Democrats on every major vote.
Source: Politico via Washington Examiner, “John Fetterman says he’ll remain neutral in Dave McCormick’s campaign,” Washington Examiner.
