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U.S. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz answers questions from the media Tuesday, August 2, 2022, during National Night Out outside McCandless Police Department.
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U.S. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz pushes his message in meeting with McCandless crowd

Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette

U.S. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz pushes his message in meeting with McCandless crowd

Mixing and mingling through a crowd of law enforcement officers and supporters at the fairgrounds near McCandless’ town hall, Mehmet Oz, the TV celebrity and cardiothoracic surgeon running as a Republican for one of the country’s most important U.S. Senate seats, took the mic at the local radio station booth and asked if anyone still believed in the American dream.

The crowd cheered, and Mr. Oz smiled. He had promised to keep his remarks “succinct like a surgeon would talk to you before the operating room” — and he did — but he did stop to thank the police and EMS officials for running toward danger at a time when violent crime is increasing. People “seem like they’re lost,” Mr. Oz said, and it’s the officers and first responders who give them hope.

That was Mr. Oz’s message on Tuesday as he worked the audience at the township’s National Night Out celebration, an annual occurrence to connect law enforcement with residents: The country is headed down the wrong path, and he’s the outsider who can right the course if voters choose him over Democrat John Fetterman this November, he said.

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“It’s a very simple decision on Nov. 8th: Do you think we’re headed in the right direction?” Mr. Oz told reporters who had asked about his status in the race. “If you’re happy with where we’re going, [Mr. Fetterman] is the person who will push Joe Biden way to the left.”

Pennsylvania Senate candidates John Fetterman, left, and Mehmet Oz.
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Unhappy? Vote for Mr. Oz and things will change, he said — and his campaign literature reiterated the point: Mehmet Oz, the “outsider we need to bring change to Washington,” the tagline read.

Like a scholar of retail politicking, Mr. Oz did it all on Tuesday. He shook hands, knelt down to talk to children, pet dogs and took selfies. “Let’s go thank some officers,” he told a group of campaign shirt-wearing supporters before entering the fairgrounds.

Mr. Oz told reporters that he’s not concerned about recent polling that shows him trailing Mr. Fetterman; a Fox News survey last week had him down by 11 points, 47% to 36%. The more people hear from Mr. Fetterman and his “radical” policy prescriptions, the more likely they’ll navigate toward Mr. Oz’s campaign, he said.

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It was very similar to Mr. Oz’s first TV ad that has been circulating this week, flashing news clips of Americans saying they’re losing faith in Mr. Biden’s administration, the president’s low approval ratings and high prices at the gas pumps.

“The only thing Joe Biden is building back better is the Republican Party,” Mr. Oz says in the ad, echoing Republicans across the country who are running for office by hitting Mr. Biden with the state of the economy.

As to Mr. Fetterman, Mr. Oz has been escalating criticisms of the Democrat for his continued absence from the campaign trail, contrasting it with his own frequent travels. His campaign sends out a “John Fetterman Basement Tracker” every day to remark of how many days it has been since Mr. Fetterman has “left his basement.”

Mr. Fetterman suffered a stroke in May while on the campaign trail, and has been recovering since. In his first media interview since the stroke, conducted in late July, he told the Post-Gazette that he’s “feeling really good,” has “nothing to hide” on the status of his health and described the lingering effects of his stroke as minor and infrequent.

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“I would never be in this if we were not absolutely, 100% able to run fully and to win — and we believe that we are,” Mr. Fetterman said, saying that a return to the trail would happen soon.

On Tuesday, Mr. Fetterman posted a picture on Twitter of a billboard his campaign purchased on Betsy Ross Bridge, connecting the commute from New Jersey to Pennsylvania. “Now leaving New Jersey for Pennsylvania ... just like Dr. Oz,” the billboard read, poking fun at Mr. Oz’s longtime residency in New Jersey.

The voting rights group End Citizens United went up with a $2 million ad campaign in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Harrisburg on Tuesday striking a similar tone: that Mr. Oz is a “Palm Beach mansion-owning celebrity” who isn’t right for Pennsylvania.

Asked by reporters on Tuesday about his New Jersey connection and whether he understands the plight of regular Pennsylvanians, Mr. Oz said he knows Pennsylvania “very well,” grew up south of Philadelphia, went to medical and business school, and met his and married his wife here.

“Frankly, the people of Pennsylvania know this,” Mr. Oz said. “They don’t care where you’re from. They care what you stand for.”

Mr. Oz, to reporters, talked of the need to unleash the energy sector and said that Pennsylvania has hundreds of years worth of natural gas to share. The government has to give drillers confidence that they won’t be shut down, he said.

Wearing a campaign shirt, Barbara Heintz, chair of the Bradford Woods Republican Committee, greeted Mr. Oz and told the Post-Gazette that he’s the best candidate the party has ever had for Senate. He has strong convictions, “stands up for the working-class women and men” and is articulate, she said. He always has quick answers, she added.

“That indicates a person who has a belief system — they don’t have to think about what they’re going to say. They already know what they’re going to say,” Ms. Heintz said.

First Published: August 3, 2022, 2:25 a.m.
Updated: August 3, 2022, 2:45 a.m.

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U.S. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz answers questions from the media Tuesday, August 2, 2022, during National Night Out outside McCandless Police Department.  (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)
U.S. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz speaks with supporters Tuesday, August 2, 2022, during National Night Out outside McCandless Police Department.  (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)
Four-year-old John Voegler of McCandless raises his hand when asked by U.S. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz whether he wants to be a police officer when he grows up on Tuesday, August 2, 2022, during National Night Out outside McCandless Police Department.  (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)
U.S. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz greets supporters Tuesday, August 2, 2022, during National Night Out outside McCandless Police Department.  (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)
U.S. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz shares a moment with 3-year-old Alexander Yavorka of McCandless on Tuesday, August 2, 2022, during National Night Out outside McCandless Police Department.  (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)
Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette
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