His past opinions on gun issues has me very concerned.
I plan on doing more research, but from what I have seen so far, I would not support him.
It's too bad that Sean Parnell didn't stay in the race. He was the real deal.

Bringing this one back up, because the PA GOP senate primary appears to be a mess. This Oz guy, who is in the lead, from all indications, is a fake conservative. Yet, Trump endorsed him. I've always liked Trump, and still do, but his picking and endorsing many people leaves a lot to be desired, and we all know this.

And then, we have Kathy Barnette, who has surged from the rear late to be neck and neck with Oz currently. And, she has been attacked left and right by many of Trump allies, claiming her veteran status is suspect, and so is her claim of being a former Judson University professor. She's also being attacked for saying "Pedophilia is the cornerstone of Islam" on Twatter some years ago. Using cleverly edited videos, they also claim that she supports BLM and calls for defunding the police. So, you guys in the trench in PA, what's the real scoop on Barnette?

Is this another case of holding your nose and vote for the least bad?

Barnette is the best and obvious choice. Anyone voting for Oz is a damned idiot. He's a charlatan. He'll be the next Romney.

Dr Oz:

Pro-abortion
Pro-gun control
Pro-child trans surgery

The "controversy" around Burnette is being ginned up desperately at the last minute as she has surged. Her military service is nothing special. She was in the National Guard and then the Reserves, never deployed. She never claimed otherwise. No controversy there. She never supported BLM or defunding the police. It's the exact opposite in fact.

Vote for Barnette. She is OG MAGA from way back in 2016. She's marched at Trump rallies. You think OZ had ever done that?

I thought about this long and hard, and was all ready for weeks to press that button for Kathy Barnette, but held my nose this morning and voted for Oz after all.

My reasoning? I heard Kathy Barnette speak yesterday on a local conservative talk radio show and she sounded completely out of her league and not ready for primetime, she will get destroyed in the regular election.

Trump endorsed Doug Mastriano for Governor which I voted for and he also endorsed Oz, he’s got a pretty good track record of his endorsements winning big.

We cannot afford to lose this Senate seat to a Democrat, it just cannot be allowed to happen.

No dog in this hunt locally but my gut is like PASig.

While I have some concerns > calling Dr. Oz:
Pro-abortion
Pro-gun control
Pro-child trans surgery
... is plain lunacy, IMO.

My Goodness.

And Oz is 100% all of those things. What do you mean lunacy? Do I need to dig up the videos? Oz has gone on the record supporting red flag laws, has called for the CDC to treat guns as a public health threat. He's fully gone on record in support of abortion and was worried about passing any restrictions. And he had an entire episode of his show dedicated to and supportive of trans-surgery on children.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:


Trump endorsed Doug Mastriano for Governor which I voted for and he also endorsed Oz, he’s got a pretty good track record of his endorsements winning big.

Mastriano endorsed Kathy Barnette. And he did so long before Oz ever came into the picture. Where did you get the notion he endorsed Oz?

quote:

I thought about this long and hard, and was all ready for weeks to press that button for Kathy Barnette, but held my nose this morning and voted for Oz after all.

My reasoning? I heard Kathy Barnette speak yesterday on a local conservative talk radio show and she sounded completely out of her league and not ready for primetime, she will get destroyed in the regular election.

That's a shame.
I don't trust Oz. He's another Romney. But you could be right... Kathy Barnette MAY get destroyed in the general election. I suppose we won't find out. But she would likely be a more reliable vote if she made it to the Senate.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:

Kathy Barnette MAY get destroyed in the regular election

Should would for sure.

Listening to her sputter, stammer and try to talk yesterday, I was reminded of that wacky chick "I am not a witch!" Christine O'Donnell from Delaware who got annihilated in 2010 and we ended up with Chris Coons there probably forever.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:

Mastriano endorsed Kathy Barnette. And he did so long before Oz ever came into the picture. Where did you get the notion he endorsed Oz?

I was trying to say Trump endorsed Mastriano and Oz

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

Should would for sure.

Listening to her sputter, stammer and try to talk yesterday, I was reminded of that wacky chick "I am not a witch!" Christine O'Donnell from Delaware who got annihilated in 2010 and we ended up with Chris Coons there probably forever.

Well, you must've heard a different interview than I did. I thought she did just fine. Oh well, better to have a democrat in Republican clothing I suppose than lose the seat to a "D". What ever happened to voting for the most right viable candidate? And this is how Utah ended up with Romney. What a shame indeed.

quote:

I was trying to say Trump endorsed Mastriano and Oz

Ah, gotcha

And people are fooling themselves if they think this con man Oz has a better chance at winning the PA Senate seat than Kathy Barnette. His unfavorable ratings are much higher than hers.

Anne Coulter...LOL

Trump hating biotch can kiss my sack

He is more than a little kooky, and has promoted goofy medicine and science more than once for reasons that are not clear, but which may have to do with a chance to make a dollar.

Yeah, well, she was probably the first person to call Trump's victory. Go ahead and discount her political acumen if you want, but she's 100% correct. Oz and McCormick are disasters.

*****

Kathy Barnette Can Win the PA Senate Seat

Once polling over the last week showed Kathy Barnette had made a breathtaking rush to contention in Pennsylvania's Republican primary for an open U.S. Senate seat, the establishment long knives came for her.

Former President Donald Trump, who had inexplicably endorsed the candidacy of a wealthy Turkish national and political neophyte most recently employed as an apparently liberal, touchy-feely TV personality, claimed Barnette had "many things in her past which have not been properly explained or vetted," had lied about voting for him (the ultimate sin?) and could not win a general election. Trump's leading media mouthpiece, Fox's Sean Hannity, dutifully took that cue and amplified it both on air and in print.

Trump and Hannity found willing print media accomplices, and stories sprouted. Suddenly Keystone State voters were deluged with text messages advising them – for the good of the Republican Party! – not to trust Barnette. The texts have sometimes linked a website called CrazyKathy.com, purportedly sponsored by American Leadership Action, a relatively new PAC which supports Trump's favored candidate, Dr. Mehmet Oz.

But this belated, transparently gratuitous hatchet job may falter because Kathy Barnette can win in November. Here's why:

Barnette is Real

Barnette and her candidacy are sui generis. What you see is what you get: plainspoken, direct, definitive, seemingly incapable of contrivance. She's an unapologetic proponent of conservative family values and strident critic of liberal groups and policies. Like her or not, voters know who she is and she connects.

Stories matter in politics, and Barnette's is enthralling – black, born poor in Alabama as the result of rape when her mother was 11, a decade as an Army reservist, corporate finance professor, most recently a political commentator and author, mother of two homeschooled children. Recent revelations of her past tweets may offend Muslim and LGBTQ voters, most of whom she was not going to win anyway, but she has made inroads among traditional voters in communities of color who are most directly affected by crime and the failure of education. As she told Pennsylvanians during one debate, "I am you."

Barnette's rise in the polls has been based entirely on old-fashioned retail politics and debate performances because until the last few days she had no money for TV ads. This suggests her support is based primarily on personal interaction and is unlikely to erode. It also means she learned a few things in her unsuccessful 2020 run for a U.S. House seat.

The shape-shifting Oz and the third serious contender for the nomination, centi-millionaire and former hedge fund star Dave McCormick, have opportunistically parachuted into the Commonwealth from other venues and professions, hoping to buy a prestigious Senate seat through slick commercials. They have not come across as genuine, no matter how often McCormick parades in front of a camera with a gun in his hands. And Oz bears an additional albatross – the assessment by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Oz's ties to the theocratic, repressive Turkish regime raise national security concerns.

Consider that the Democratic nominee for this Senate seat will be sitting Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, an iconoclastic veteran politician who – putting aside for a moment his views and Harvard degree – oozes outsider authenticity. Neither Oz nor McCormick can win a common-man-cred fight with Fetterman, and not only because Fetterman is an imposing, tattooed 6-foot-8. But Barnette will compete effectively in that arena.

Barnette Can Expose Fetterman's Far Left Views

Without mentioning Fetterman – who is recovering from a stroke suffered last week – Trump and Hannity argue Barnette cannot beat The Other Big Guy. This is absurd. Fetterman was a vocal Bernie promoter in 2016, though he recently has tried to soften his embrace of the Sanders manifesto. In another year, Fetterman would perhaps be a dreadnought, but in the context of 2022 and Joe Biden's struggles, his far left views are out of step with restive, apprehensive Pennsylvanians. Here are a few Fetterman pronouncements that will make him a rich target:

Climate change. Fetterman has indicated he accepts a link between climate and racial justice. Though he professed support for unions, Fetterman said in February 2021, "Climate change is an existential threat, and we need to transition to clean energy as quickly as possible." For tens of thousands of western Pennsylvanians whose jobs depend upon the fossil fuel industry, Fetterman's reference to "transition" is unambiguous.

Immigration. Fetterman opposed construction of Trump's border wall, would limit deportations, and has said he would offer citizenship to undocumented immigrants who are leading productive lives. These have become fraught positions as analysts have attributed soaring urban crime rates to uncontrolled drug smuggling along the porous southern border.

Critical Race Theory in schools. In an appearance on Hill.TV three months ago, Fetterman said, "Critical race theory isn’t taught in any Pennsylvania public schools, and it’s just not an issue.” But CRT-related texts like “Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness,” defining whites as oppressors and blacks as victims, reportedly have been used in some schools, including on the wealthy Main Line west of Philadelphia. We learned in the Virginia gubernatorial race last November that CRT has infiltrated public education at all levels, and suburban parents – a crucial voting bloc in Pennsylvania – are mobilized against it.

COVID restrictions and school closings. Fetterman supported Gov. Tom Wolf's frequent imposition of COVID lockdowns, restrictions, and school and business closings, extending in some cases into early 2022. Fetterman may not be able to dodge the wrath of business owners and parents whose children suffered both educationally and psychologically from the restrictions.

Kathy Barnette has highlighted these issues in appearances and debates. She is not a polished debater, but she is feisty and pointed and will not let Fetterman off the hook. Fetterman, on the other hand, must be judicious in his treatment of a black opponent after being sharply criticized for a 2013 incident in which – while mayor of the western Pennsylvania borough of Braddock – he pulled a gun on a black jogger whom he wrongly suspected of involvement in a shooting.

This is not Ohio, where Trump endorsed an outsider populist who managed to overcome feckless opposition in the Republican Senate primary. Trump has misfired in Pennsylvania. Barnette is the real populist and the voters are smart enough to know that and may reject the eleventh-hour slime initiative.

Even as he was claiming she cannot win, Trump acknowledged Barnette may "have a wonderful future in the Republican Party." That future may have arrived earlier than the former president would prefer.

https://www.realclearpolitics....ate_seat_147604.html

A lot of people had the same reservations about Trump (not me though) and he IMO turned out as great?

OZ is in it for OZ, not the people, not the Constitution.

Had he ended his show when he reached the end of his training and qualifications then people would struggle now to remember a name from that far in the past.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Barnette is Real

Has her claim of military service been verified?

As I understand it, she claims to be a "Armed Forces Reserve" veteran, and will not specify a branch or produce a 214.

That's a bit worrisome. Not as worrisome as Oz in the Senate, but still would give me pause.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

Has her claim of military service been verified?

Yes. She was in the National Guard for three years and then the reserves. She has a DD214.

Amazing how effective the smear campaign was against her.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Amazing how effective the smear campaign was against her.

Indeed.

quote:

I've always liked Trump, and still do, but his picking and endorsing many people leaves a lot to be desired, and we all know this.

Absolutely true. I don't know how to explain it because Trump is smart and savvy. But he made some terrible appointments, and also kept people on he should have fired. Conservatives in PA utterly reject Oz, and the fact that Trump has endorsed him has in turn damaged Trump.

quote:

Originally posted by justjoe:

quote:

I've always liked Trump, and still do, but his picking and endorsing many people leaves a lot to be desired, and we all know this.

Absolutely true. I don't know how to explain it because Trump is smart and savvy. But he made some terrible appointments, and also kept people on he should have fired. Conservatives in PA utterly reject Oz, and the fact that Trump has endorsed him has in turn damaged Trump.

Friends in Georgia have expressed similar sentiments to me about his endorsements there, basically feeling that they have skewed things which favor what they term as the "gastropod."