Health is not a Policy Position

"After the debate, Republicans intensified their focus on Fetterman’s health."

Seriously? And I'm not asking because a doctor(?) using his opponent's health as an issue is vulgar. (It is, but that's not why I'm asking.) I'm asking because it seems to assume that a voter who was planning to vote for Fetterman might change plans and vote for Oz, because Fetterman has a health issue.

But who casts a vote based on a candidate's health?

This is a federal race. That means the primary issues are guns, abortion, gay rights, guns, abortion, taxes, guns, abortion, and guns. Also guns. Fetterman is not the candidate he is because he shaves his head, wears a hoodie, or had a stroke, any more than Oz is the candidate he is because of Grecian Formula 16. Each is the candidate they are because of abortion and guns. That's it. That's all. That's why Herschel Walker, who can barely speak coherently enough to tell lies about being an FBI agent, is viable against an eloquent minister. Walker is against abortion (credible accusations that he paid for one for two don't matter, because "against" means "will make illegal" in this context, and wealthy Republicans like Walker aren't much deterred by what's illegal). That's why he's viable. That's all it takes in Georgia, and no one's health has anything to do with that.

That's the situation in Pennsylvania, too. No one is voting on what they think of either Fetterman or Oz in this race. They are voting on what they think of guns and abortion. Fetterman is on one side of those issues, Oz is on the other. Whichever one of them wins will add one more to the total senate count for that side. That's it. That's all. Nothing else matters.

Perhaps one would prefer a healthy senator to a frail one. From time to time, senators do get the chance to advocate for their individual states. But, long before anyone takes that into account, votes get cast according to the side they're on, not according to how well they'll bring home the pork. I mean, when you think about it, pork kind of tells the whole story, when it comes to casting your vote in a federal race, doesn't it?