Five months after Lt. Gov. John Fetterman’s stroke, which nearly killed him, PA's Democratic nominee for the US Senate – the results of which will shift the balance in said Senate – went toe-to-toe with multimillionaire TV host Dr. Oz in their first and only debate. As predicted, they disagreed over just about everything including hot-button issues like abortion, the economy, cannabis, healthcare, crime and a certain former Republican president who hovers over numerous midterm electoral campaigns.

While all of the above was roundly discussed, analyzed and picked over after Tuesday’s debate, most media reports led with commentary about Fetterman’s “halting speech,” “lingering effects from his stroke,” and “Fetterman’s struggle to effectively communicate.” Some even called Fetterman’s auditory issues “heartbreaking.” 

Fetterman, by the way, addressed the issue right at the beginning. “Let’s also talk about the elephant in the room: I had a stroke,” he said in his opening remarks, adding “He’ll never let me forget that.” He was referring to the various occasions when Oz mocked and goaded Fetterman for refusing to debate, which Fetterman said he'd do after he fully recovered his speech.

What Does An Expert Think About All This Stroke Talk? 

Kellin Squire is an emergency department nurse in Charlottesville who is running for a seat in the Virginian House of Delegates.

Referring to the wall-to-wall media coverage of Fetterman’s debate performance, Squire said that candidates like Dr. Oz who believe abortion should be between "a woman, her doctor, and local political leaders" (he really said that in the debate!) and who also bought a second mansion in a different state just to run for office, "are a dime a dozen. But a stroke victim who is doing better than most people would be in their predicament? WOO, LET'S BURN 'EM, FELLAS!"

Stroke In The U.S.

Stroke is a leading cause of death for Americans and leading cause of long-term disability. Every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. has a stroke and every 3.5 minutes, someone dies of a stroke, according to the CDC.

Kellin told Daily Kos readers about a patient of hers who presented with expressive aphasia (partial loss of the ability to produce language) but never fully recovered. 

“And so, I have to tell you, to be doing as good as John Fetterman was doing last night is a huge win for any ER, ICU, or Neuro nurse watching.”

Meanwhile, Fetterman's campaign raised over a million dollars within hours after the debate ended.

Photo: Wikipedia

Original publication: 2022-10-26