By Ray Cardello for December 24, 2024, Season 30 / Post 37

“If You Root Against The President, You Are Rooting Against America” are not my words but the sensible words of a man many of us thought was a train wreck from Pennsylvania who became the Junior Senator from the Keystone State. Senator John Fetterman struggled to put a sentence together when campaigning and gave a Biden-like performance in his debate with Dr. Oz. John Fetterman was the man who found himself in the hospital after being elected, fighting depression and feelings of suicide. Now, John Fetterman has become the voice of reason not only in the Democrat Party but all of Washington. Suddenly, he has gone from the joke of the Senate with his mannerisms and unorthodox dress code to the go-to guy for networks to get the pulse of Washington.

Fetterman does not fit the mold of a D.C. Democrat. Chuck Schumer cannot control him, which is enough to draw the angst of his party. But he goes beyond that by not just talking about bipartisan, but actually practicing it. He has met with all of Trump’s cabinet nominees; some he will support and others he won’t. However, his decisions will be based on his conversations and the hearings that will take place, not on what the Party or Media tells him. He finds it appalling that some Democrats are committed to fighting Trump’s every move rather than debating and coming to decisions that are right for America. Many are so vindictive that they will not even meet with the nominees.

Fetterman did the unusual during the election and listened to the people he represented. He tried to warn his Party that they were not reading the tone of the people and that pushing social issues would not satisfy the voters. He saw, even before the shooting in Butler, that Donald Trump was resonating with the people of Pennsylvania. He listened to them and gave them his plans to achieve their wants and needs. Trump was talking about dinner table issues while the Democrats were talking about abortion and climate change. One feeds the family. The other does not.

I was not a fan of John Fetterman when he ran for Senator in 2022. I thought he was another puppet politician, like Joe Biden, that the Party, specifically Chuck Schumer, could control. In short order, he proved me wrong and taught me a lesson not to judge a situation or person quickly. I have written three times about John Fetterman. One article was scathing, and the other two have been me eating crow. I don’t expect Fetterman to abandon the Democrat Party, but I hope he can be an example to others, such as the Squad, to listen and interact with the other side and find common ground. I don’t think Fetterman voted for Trump, but he will not be an obstructionist. He recognizes that his constituents voted for Trump, and he owes it to them to work with, not against, the President. His is such a refreshing view of his responsibility to the people who put him and Trump in office. Imagine how much more could be accomplished with cooperation. Trump has exemplified this thinking with his diverse Cabinet. Maybe we are looking at a new frontier in D.C. That would be Trump’s most significant accomplishment.