Fetterman should focus less on comedy, more on inflation and policy

There’s one person who’s treating his bid for the U.S. Senate like an entertainment opportunity, and it’s not the guy who used to have a TV show.

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman’s barrage of sarcastic memes, Snooki cameos, and aerial beach ads are disrespectful to all of us who are suffering in these difficult economic times. His mean tweets and bro culture attitude just amplify that this man has become a woke joke. We’re witnessing the Fetterman Follies — but instead of entertaining, these stunts obfuscate the truth. This isn’t a reality show, Mr. Fetterman, it’s our lives.

His refusal to take his candidacy seriously is a slap in the face to everyone struggling to make ends meet under President Joe Biden’s and Gov. Tom Wolf’s disastrous economic policies. With so much at stake for Pennsylvania families, how sad that Fetterman’s biggest accomplishment is enlisting the help of an old-school reality TV star and hanging a pot flag outside his office.

A glance at Fetterman’s Twitter page tells you all you need to know about his focus — and it’s not on the issues that matter to Pennsylvanians who are suffering from rampant inflation, skyrocketing energy costs, and rising crime. A focus on policy is almost entirely absent from Fetterman’s bid for the Senate. To the extent that he does engage, he offers only broad platitudes and vague mentions — like comments that he’ll “reign in corporate greed” — or in flip-flopping his position on fracking to avoid accountability for his record.

This is not an accident. It’s a strategic decision that Fetterman made about the direction of his campaign. Why? Pennsylvanians don’t support his policy agenda — and he knows it.

His hostility toward traditional energy production and “environmentally racist policy” won’t heal the Earth or the communities he claims to represent, it will only exacerbate the current crisis. His support for carbon taxes and higher taxes on employers will drive up costs. Supporting Biden’s failed agenda won’t help families facing a decision between paying for groceries or paying rent.

Eighty-two percent of Pennsylvania voters polled in a June survey support limiting increases in government spending, but you won’t hear Fetterman talking about that. Fetterman wouldn’t just lose on inflation — he’d lose on every single policy “solution” that he stands for. More than 80% of surveyed voters support overhauling Pennsylvania’s education system, taxes, and employee rights — reforms Fetterman opposes as lieutenant governor.

His avoidance of the issues — and flip-flopping when he does address them — is a disservice to voters who deserve transparency and answers.

If there is a laugh, it’s in Fetterman’s hypocrisy. While trying to claim the mantle of Pennsylvania native, he is racking up a majority of his campaign dollars from out of state — particularly from progressive bastions like California, New York, and New Jersey. I don’t find it problematic that support comes from Americans living in other states. It is, however, galling for him to try to gain a moral high ground by vilifying Mehmet Oz’s ties to the Garden State. Fetterman has raked in more than four times more campaign cash from New Jersey than Oz.

» READ MORE: An environmentalist grapples with John Fetterman’s views on fracking

No amount of acting like a down-home Pennsylvania guy can hide the disconnect that Fetterman has from those he will represent if he were to win in November. He has insulated himself from voters, run from accountability for his past words and actions, and resorted to a campaign of troll tactics instead of a real debate on the issues.

His campaign is trying too hard to be comical. Its only achievement so far has been making Fetterman look like a clown.

Jennifer Stefano is the executive vice president of the Commonwealth Foundation and a fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum.