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In a fight between a Paul Bunyan-like common man and a celebrity doctor, the doctor might emerge as the responsible candidate. And Dr. Oz will know how to sell it, said Samantha Majic, a political scientist at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, who studies style and celebrity in politics.<\/p>\n
\u201cCelebrity in the modern sense is somebody who is known, highly produced, managed and in the media, but they are also commercialized, they are using their celebrity to sell,\u201d Professor Majic said. She added: \u201cAs campaigns become more expensive, you\u2019ve got to have celebrity capital to parlay into financial capital. You have to stand out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among Democrats and many independents in Pennsylvania, Mr. Fetterman is popular. A poll from Franklin & Marshall College<\/a> just before the primary \u2014 and before his stroke \u2014 found that 67 percent of Democratic voters viewed him favorably, well above the 46 percent who felt warmly toward his primary opponent, Representative Conor Lamb.<\/p>\n Berwood A. Yost, the director of the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall, said that given the democratic nominee\u2019s 52 years of age, his health problems \u201cmay make Fetterman even more relatable.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou get to your 50s as a working-class person, and you\u2019ve got some scars to show for it, right?\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a further contrast between the two candidates. I mean, the contrast couldn\u2019t be any more stark.\u201d<\/p>\n And a comeback from a health setback is not uncommon. Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent whose progressive politics are similar to Mr. Fetterman\u2019s, suffered a heart attack in late 2019<\/a>, with the presidential primary season looming, and hardly skipped a beat.<\/p>\n But Mr. Fetterman will remain off the campaign trail for some time.<\/p>\n \u201cDoctors have told me I need to continue to rest, eat healthy, exercise and focus on my recovery, and that\u2019s exactly what I\u2019m doing,\u201d he said in his statement. He added: \u201cIt\u2019s frustrating \u2014 all the more so because this is my own fault \u2014 but bear with me, I need a little more time. I\u2019m not quite back to 100 percent yet, but I\u2019m getting closer every day.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n