GOP Senator Pat Tomey from Pennsylvania is retiring, leaving his seat up for grabs. It’s a crucial seat for both parties. The Republican running for Tomey’s seat, Sean Parnell, just suspended his campaign after he lost his custody case due to domestic assault evidence provided by his ex-wife. Parnell had also been endorsed by Donald Trump, so he was just a real winner all around. With the GOP field opening up it seems TV medicine slinger, Dr. Mehmet Oz, has started some political maneuvering to position himself to fill the seat.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, television’s Dr. Oz, is seriously considering entering the race for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat as a Republican, according to a source familiar with his thinking.
The 2022 race is expected to be one of the most competitive in the nation, after the retirement of GOP Sen. Pat Toomey, setting up competitive primaries on both sides of the ticket. The race for the Republican nomination opened up further on Monday when Sean Parnell, the candidate endorsed by former President Donald Trump, suspended his campaign after a ruling in a custody case found he had committed “some acts of abuse in the past.”
Oz, 61, a cardiothoracic surgeon, rose to prominence in guest appearances on Oprah Winfrey’s show before getting his own series in 2009, and has long been criticized for promoting questionable medical advice on the show. If he were to win, Oz would become the first Muslim to hold a U.S. Senate seat.
[From Yahoo!]
Oz, who lives and was registered to vote in New Jersey, re-registered and voted in PA in 2020. Plus he’s supposedly looking for a home near Philadelphia. He is also said to be scouting schedulers and policy directors. According to Politico, the race is wide open right now so someone could swoop in and nab the nomination. However, nobody thinks Oz is the one to do it. Everyone is a little baffled about what’s motivating him. He calls himself a moderate Republican, which would be a departure from what they’ve been trying to run in the state. But this guy is so problematic. Fellow physicians at Columbia University Medical Center, on which he is staff, tried to oust him due to his bogus medical advice and treatments he peddles. Since he’s essentially a snake oil salesman, I guess he’d fit right in at the Senate, but that doesn’t mean he should be there. He’s got no experience and if his medical career is anything to go by, his moral compass is for sale so no, this makes me very uncomfortable. Also, the rumor is he’ll launch his campaign on Fox’s Hannity – that’s a bad omen for any political career.
I’d be surprised if much came from this bid, though. The left will dislike his trash medicine and the fact that his peers discredit him. His opponents will juice up his Oprah connection to turn off hard right wing nuts. And I wonder if his wife if supportive or if she’s encouraging him to keep his lucrative day job.
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