The Left's Answer to Trump Is 6 Foot 8 and Wears Shorts in February

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Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman confirmed that if he wins the open US Senate race in Pennsylvania, Democrats will kill the filibuster.

BRADDOCK, Pa.—John Fetterman didn’t grow up with anyone who had a biker-bar bouncer’s chin beard or who wore work shirts and shorts in February. He didn’t grow up committed to LGBTQ rights and legalizing marijuana and a living wage. The Pennsylvania lieutenant governor and Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate didn’t grow up dreaming of being a senator, or expecting to fail an exercise at Harvard’s Kennedy School because he refused to present a solution for how best to cut Social Security. He certainly didn’t anticipate serving as a stand-in for the Big Show when the wrestler made an appearance here (though at 6 foot 8, Fetterman is actually a few inches taller than he is). Fetterman has a weird life. He chose it because of the very different life he was born into.

Fetterman grew up four hours away from Braddock, in York, Pennsylvania. His father, an insurance salesman turned executive, and his mother, who cared for Fetterman and his brother while they were young and later helped her husband at the business, covered the bulk of Fetterman’s expenses during the 14 years he served as mayor of Braddock—a job that comes with a monthly salary of about $150.

Now that Fetterman’s the front-runner in a Senate race that’s sure to be one of the biggest of 2022, skeptics and rivals are looking for his vulnerabilities. The obvious angle of attack, one that some of his foes have landed on already: What if Fetterman’s not the real deal? What if he’s just a trust-fund kid playing dress-up?

“I was an unplanned, unwanted pregnancy to two 19-year-olds that were casually dating, and my father was a union grocery worker at the ShopRite—and that’s what allowed my family to survive while he went to college,” Fetterman told me recently, sitting at home in Braddock. “I got lucky. The fact that, 52 years later, they are still together is a testament to just my good fortune, because statistically or actuarially or whatever, my life very likely would have turned out much differently. So I have always felt part of that duty and obligation to want to pay that forward and to contribute. And that was one of the deciding factors that brought me to Braddock. So it’s an unusual criticism where somebody would say, ‘He’s not from here.’ I’m like, ‘Well, of course I’m not.’”
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/03/john-fetterman-senate-pennsylvania-democrat/618257/

[cilla4progress]

2. I know...

will be interesting to watch!!

[NBachers]

3. Excellent article, and thanks for posting it. You can contribute to John Fetterman here:

He'll replace Republican Senator Patrick Toomey, who's not running in 2022. One more no-bullshit Democrat; one less Republican Senator. What could be a higher priority than that? John Fetterman needs early contributions to establish himself in the Primary.

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/fetterman-for-pa-1

[calimary]

9. Yep!

Excellent and MOST worthy goal.

One less Republican in the Senate. ALWAYS a most worthy goal.

[Bayard]

4. I've seen him on MSNBC a few times

(always sitting down--no idea he was that tall!) He seems to be an honest, straight-shooter.

[world wide wally]

5. I like Fetterman.

He is the guy that Trump pretended to appeal to.

[multigraincracker]

6. It's almost like someone

like me could be a Senator or even President. An old hippie/biker/factory worker that graduated in the top 5% of my class from a major university, but only 6’4”.

[thesquanderer]

7. How is he the left's answer to Trump?

The 4 paragraphs chosen for the OP don't elucidate on the point of the headline. (I try to minimize clicking through to sites that have limited access before putting up a paywall, which I think The Atlantic does.)

[Rhiannon12866]

8. He also has a rescue dog who's on Twitter, helping other pets find forever homes:

Link to tweet