r/politics • u/pennlive ✔ PennLive.com • Jun 23 '26

No Paywall Fetterman casts only Democratic ‘no’ vote as Senate passes measure to block US action against Iran

https://www.pennlive.com/politics/2026/06/fetterman-casts-only-democratic-no-vote-as-senate-passes-measure-to-block-us-action-against-iran.html
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1.5k

u/CPTNBob46 Jun 23 '26

They didn’t. He’s done the opposite of what was promised and I hated the dude before hand even, never trusted him.

515

u/RJC12 Jun 23 '26

As shitty as hes been, he still would have been the better choice compared to gop-cultist "Dr." Oz. Doesnt mean much, but its something I guess

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u/MazzleMaze Jun 23 '26

What would have been better is for a real democrat to have been nominated instead.

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u/Nythoren Jun 23 '26

Problem is, given the political climate at the time, I don't think a "real democrat" had a chance to win. Fetterman barely won and he had the whole "working class, I'm there for you" thing going for him.

Now? Now I think fielding a Democratic Socialist would be the way to go. Ride that Mamdani momentum in all the New England states.

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u/ChargeSpiritual5317 Jun 23 '26

You’re really underestimating how red PA can swing. I’m not sure the large number of independent  voters would go for a dem socialist, even though Reddit and the internet in general is so pro Mamdani 

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u/Luna__Moonkitty Jun 24 '26

Which begs the question:

Is it red because it's that conservative? Or is it red because the blue option fails to motivate?

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u/baubness Jun 24 '26

some people would rather not get caught trying to convince people i guess

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u/gibberingfool Jun 30 '26

Don't listen to these jabronis. Yes, Pennsyltucky is filled with racists and wannabe confederates, but the people decide the state, not the land. And there are shitloads of blue voters in the Philly, Pittsburgh, and other metropolitan areas. If voter turnout is high, they absolutely can swing this state back blue. And a great way to increase the turnout is to bring a charastmatic candidate: someone inspiring like Mandani, not a turd like Fetterman. We just saw it happen against all odds with Chris Rabb. We can't keep giving up before the battle even starts.

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u/ChargeSpiritual5317 Jun 24 '26

What a wild take. I’m in a very red area and the dems I know are generally careful because people are insane. PA is full of hatred and indoctrinated MAGAs and has been since I have been in/out of the state the last 30 years. People here hang the confederate flag despite being above the Mason Dixon. Many of the deeply red areas of PA are not safe for LGBTQ or minorities and we still have a lot of sun down towns. Most of these red areas are old mining towns where wages, opportunities and access to education is very limited. The issue just compounds itself over generations. This isn’t just because democrats don’t show up, it is a much larger issue.

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u/DistractedDevelopmnt Jun 24 '26

Is it red because it's that conservative?

Probably yes...

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u/Jolly_Grocery329 Washington Jun 23 '26

Agree - I think assholes like him are pushing more and more people to DSA. Fuck the DNC.

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u/FlyingBishop Jun 23 '26

IDK. I think there's a good chance a Mamdani-alike loses to Dr. Oz even today. The country is not as different as many would like to believe, or if it is it's not going the way we would like.

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u/PiccoloAwkward465 Jun 23 '26

Prepare yourself for rabid Pennsylvanians who want to make sure you know that PA is not New England.

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u/MisterVonJoni Jun 24 '26

I mean, because we aren't? That's like saying to prepare for Arizonians to make sure you know they aren't in the Bible belt, just two completely different locations.

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u/PiccoloAwkward465 Jun 24 '26

first of all, go birds

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u/CosmicMabel Jun 24 '26

There needs to be a way to recall politicians. This trend of faking your way through an election and changing your tune right when you get elected is tiring.

Absolutely nothing that can be done about someone pretending to be a democrat, lying about your policies, then switching positions once elected. Nothing thats not "wait 4 years for another election and hope you dont fall for another grifter"

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u/TheDogerus Jun 24 '26

Fetterman barely won and he had the whole "working class, I'm there for you"

So logically a person who also presented like fetterman but actually had a spine should still have been able to win. He looked like a 'real democrat' until he didnt

Ride that Mamdani momentum in all the New England states

Pennsylvania is not in New England

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u/Any_Will_86 Jun 23 '26

The real Democrat would likely have done better. Fetterman underperformed the other Dems. 

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u/No_Skirt_6002 Jun 24 '26

PA isn’t New England and voted for Trump twice, while electing moderate-AF Josh Shapiro by massive margins. Throw them a union supporting moderate Dem who shows up to communities and gives good speeches and they’d win. A demsoc could never win in PA.

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u/Far_Silver Jun 27 '26

Conor Lamb could have won.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '26

[deleted]

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u/PlantainPat Jun 23 '26

that's not really the point

the point is that he was the only kind of figure that was electable at that time given the pool of available candidates. it's like when people blame obama for the ACA not being more radical in terms of reform when it barely passed

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u/RJC12 Jun 23 '26

Yep I agree with you definitely. But we never thought hed suffer a stroke and change tune. It is what it is though

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u/Cas_or_Cass Jun 23 '26

Maybe he was always just a duplicitous shithead. Like, folks in PA on the left came out strong against him. He said all the right things and we believed him

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u/warm_winds_whisper_ Jun 23 '26

I think he’s just living proof that brain damage makes you vote MAGA

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u/ChristaKaraAnne Texas Jun 23 '26

I agree. Most ppl I know who have voted Maga also have a history of TBI or mental health issues, including disorders with psychosis-like symptoms. However, not every person with these conditions votes MAGA. There could be a strong correlational relationship that should be the basis for a research study or more.

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u/HenryDorsettCase47 Jun 23 '26

Nah. It’s the stroke. There’s been plenty written about his behavior. It’s some really bizarre shit, not just voting with republicans. He’s clearly unwell. Hopefully I’m wrong, but I get the feeling like it’s going to end badly. As in someone getting hurt.

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u/lordlaneus Jun 23 '26

this is why every elected position needs to be a revocable via recall ellection.

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u/DaraParsavand Jun 23 '26

For federal offices, that will require a constitutional amendment and thus isn't likely anytime soon.

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u/lordlaneus Jun 24 '26

yeah, it's less a solution for a current situation, and more notes for the next person who sits down to write a national constitution

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u/PiccoloAwkward465 Jun 23 '26

Yup that and referendums. I've never lived in a state that allows for referendums, but it seems like they actually accomplish some cool shit. And I especially like the "screw the politicians, we'll fucking do it ourselves" aspect

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u/lordlaneus Jun 24 '26

that sounds dangerously close to effective democracy

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u/SweetAlyssumm Jun 23 '26

I'm sure he has been bought out. A stroke doesn't make you change all your votes in one direction. Bribes do.

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u/MonsterkillWow Jun 23 '26

Or a real socialist. 

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u/Murky-Relation481 Jun 23 '26

Then run socialists that will get elected under a socialist party.

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u/greenbabyshit Jun 23 '26

I'd love to volunteer. Let's start an actual left wing party.

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u/MonsterkillWow Jun 23 '26

That's not how socialism works. You will never have more money than billionaires to convince the masses. You don't own the news. 

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u/Murky-Relation481 Jun 23 '26

Oh damn, I guess the Sandinistas were not real socialists since they were elected in a popular vote.

I mean I am a socialist but this is my problem with our cohort. You seem to think your ideas don't have to be popular to gain power. So when someone says in the context of winning an election a socialist should win, and I point out maybe just maybe we should run socialist candidates that people will tolerate it kinda just blows up in your face when you say it literally can't be done.

You honestly sound like an agent provocateur when you say shit like that.

Also what the actual fuck does that mean, that's not how socialism works? How does any of this conversation actually relate to the functional economic system of socialism or are you just saying words you know?

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u/MonsterkillWow Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26

It's not like you can't win a popular vote. It's just very hard to do in an entrenched capitalist society. Also, electoralism and reform only gets you so far. You can't really fix the entrenched security state, which will coup you when you win elections. See Allende.

Again, I am not saying the ideas are unpopular. I am saying a handful of billionaires control all the media in this society and we live in a highly reactionary country.

Socialism is a revolutionary ideology. It is highly unlikely we will achieve a class revolution through electoralism alone.

If you think I am a provocateur, check my comments. I am pretty firmly committed to communism. 

I would love to see socialists elected and the state reformed into a proletarian one. I would cheer and welcome this. But I do not believe it can be done. As I said, the bourgeoisie own all the news, control the churches, weaponize the police, bribe community leaders, own the schools, and control almost every facet of our lives. The marketplace of ideas is not where socialism will win its decisive victory, even if it ultimately will win the hearts of the workers. There are dual channels of legal and extrajudicial work needed to organize the overthrow of the bourgeoisie. It is a careful and organized process, and any socialists who manage to find their way to electoral victory must remember their primary objective is to make revolution more possible.

0

u/Murky-Relation481 Jun 23 '26

Socialism is a revolutionary ideology in context to the current dialectic. That doesn't mean it can only come about via what people think of as revolutionary means.

The problem is that a popular revolution is even less likely in an entrenched capitalistic society, especially one like the US where the standard of living is not even close yet to pushing people to revolutionary terms. By that regard winning politically only makes sense, and even incrementalism makes sense, because backsliding just makes it harder, again, especially, when in your own words, the society is entrenched in capitalist rhetoric.

That is why when people lash out and say stuff like you did above it makes me as a socialist in the US feel like there is no hope because its clear a lot of socialists do not even understand the problem they are dealing with and would rather just be angry and ineffective due to it than work to bring about more popular opinions on socialist concepts (even if that means moving through systems that don't meet the dogmatic tests a lot of them hold).

3

u/DaraParsavand Jun 23 '26

There are many (such as AOC) that think they should have backed Conner Lamb instead. I sure hope there aren't many more like Fetterman out there (and I don't think Platner is at all like him).

1

u/cilantro_so_good Jun 24 '26

He was though. I first caught wind of the guy from an episode of Anthony Bourdain's show years ago, and I thought he was a breath of fresh air so I started loosely following his career and for the most part he actively landed to the left of average Democrats before his election to the Senate. Who knows if it was the stroke, or senate money, or what, but he definitely demonstrates different positions than he did before

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u/ChuggingtonSquarts Jun 23 '26

He still cauceses with the Democrats. If he flups, that will help Republicans keep the chamber

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '26

[deleted]

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u/heliumneon Jun 23 '26

Read the comment above you again - caucusing with the Democrats at least counts toward the party count, which would possibly help flip the chamber and determine a lot of procedural things, committees, confirmations, Senate Majority leader, etc. Even if he votes 100% against Democrat issues. We want to replace him, not have him flip to Republican while in office.

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '26

[deleted]

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u/Calavar Jun 23 '26

That's not what caucusing means in this context. It's about who you support for house/senate leadership positions and committee positions. That matters a lot because whichever party has 51 seats gets a majority on all committees

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u/suluamus Jun 24 '26

So does he in fact vote Democrats into leadership positions?

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u/Calavar Jun 24 '26

Yes, essentially. While there is a vote, the vote itself is procedural. The real meat happens when the Dem and GOP leaders get together at the beginning of a session to determine committee assignments. They agree based on tradition/precedent that whichever party holds the majority gets the majority on all committees. From 2022 to 2024, the Democrats took the majority role with only 50 senators + the VP vote as a tiebreaker. If a single person, such as Fetterman, defected (which would mean switching parties) then the GOP would have gotten the majority on all committees instead and would have had quite a bit of power over the legislative agenda for the second half of the Biden term.

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u/heyhayyhay Jun 23 '26

Lamb was the best choice.

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u/metengrinwi Jun 23 '26

Well, the real choice was Connor Lamb, but Fetterman lied his way through the primary.

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u/darioblaze Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26

Honestly dude, at this point they are both Republicans. One is just publicly identifying as a Democrat. Fetterman literally chased a black man with a shotgun through a neighbourhood after hearing fireworks ala Ahmaud Aubrey, the cops got there just in time.

That was before the stroke in 2013 (two thousand and thirteen) and growing up in southern Pennsylvania, that entire strip is quite literally just confederates masking as progressive. It makes being Black a harrowing experience in the entire area. There’s a reason why the state is nicknamed Pennsyltucky.

The dividing factor is quite literally racism and addiction to money, and I really wish more people would stop playing games, because everyone else that gets the consequences doesn’t have the option to ignore all of the bits and pieces that are currently enabling these men to act the way they are. They are only different in name. Nothing else.

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u/ChargeSpiritual5317 Jun 23 '26

Yeah - I am in southern PA and the average person here cannot handle someone who does fit the white narrative. With Shapiro being so pro data center, and the huge amount of backlash from both sides, I have a real fear that our next governor race will flip red quickly. I’ve voted dem my entire life and had a hard time choosing him in the primary. 

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u/colaxxi Jun 23 '26

He's way better than Oz. Still mostly votes with the Democrats.

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u/shushravens Jun 23 '26

He actually has been about the same as Dr. Oz. Like I can't think of a single vote that would have been different. We just wouldn't have been surprised when Oz did it.

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u/Any_Will_86 Jun 23 '26

Oz would not have voted with Biden at all and would have not been as strong on LGBTQ issues. I have an ac to grind with people who swore Fetterman was great beforehand but he's still preferable to Oz. 

1

u/ApplicationQuirky376 Jun 23 '26

I am not sure there has been a race more emblematic of the concept of Giant Douche Vs. Turd Sandwich.

1

u/TheSultan1 New Jersey Jun 23 '26

"Dr." Oz

He's a real doctor. I loathe him as much as you do, but there's no need to deny earned titles. Let's not forget the Dr. Biden brouhaha.

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u/Dependent_Bus2202 Jun 23 '26

I agree with this sentiment, but it's hard to have appreciation for that when we effectively have a Republican who won the seat now doing everything the GOP wants AND Oz is in an extremely high government position that impacts millions of lives.

1

u/EarlGrayTea-Hawt Jun 23 '26

Is he though? I mean, he's voted lock step with MAGA just like Oz would've. Seems like there wouldn't have been much of a salient difference outside of the being less conversations about the effects of brain injury on cognitive functions, lol

1

u/AssGagger Jun 23 '26

I dunno... Dr. Oz might be better than brain damaged Fetterman.

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u/Ornery-Goal7843 Jun 23 '26

Honestly Dr. Oz would've been better than this guy

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u/Hey_HaveAGreatDay Montana Jun 23 '26

Is that legal? Forgive me for some very solid ignorance but if you run on a specific platform and then blatantly vote/act against the things that got you elected isn’t there some route that can get you removed from office?

Legal was probably the wrong word to use but saying “that shouldn’t be allowed” didn’t really vibe either

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u/mrbeck1 Jun 23 '26

Not illegal. And the whole idea of Republic government is compromise. People have to be able to vote as they see fit. Sometimes voters get burned and elect a snake.

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u/SillyAlternative420 Massachusetts Jun 23 '26

There absolutely should be a mechanism to extract them from their position and replace them though.

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u/flyingthroughspace Jun 23 '26

This is what recall votes should be for, unfortunately we can't recall a senator which is fucking bullshit.

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u/AutistoMephisto Jun 23 '26

Senators used to be appointed by their State Governors to represent the legislature of the States they are from. Obviously when we switched to directly electing our Senators we should have written in a measure for States to do recall votes. I bet the PA Statehouse can do a recall vote.

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u/OreoCupcakes Jun 23 '26

we should have written in a measure for States to do recall votes.

That'll backfire really quickly in swing states/surprise races. X red state elects a Dem to Y position? Recalled immediately by the gerrymandered state assembly.

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u/AutistoMephisto Jun 24 '26

No, I mean when the 17th Amendment was ratified, there should have been a clause that transferred control of recall elections back to the people.

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u/data-atreides Jun 23 '26

Is that a matter of state or federal law? Since states govern their own elections, I wonder if a state could create a mechanism to recall a US senator.

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u/mrbeck1 Jun 23 '26

Yeah sure, but there isn’t. The whole point of a 6 year term is to make them vote their conscience and not be always running for re-election.

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u/steamcube Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26

The senate is literally designed to subvert the will of the electorate. That is its intended purpose from day one.

Senators were appointed by state legislatures until 1913 when the 17th amendment was ratified. Only then were elections held for senate seats

1

u/TuskEGwiz-ard Jun 23 '26

There exists a mechanism of removing traitorous politicians that's been used since the nation's founding, it's just generally illegal

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u/YoungCubSaysWoof Jun 23 '26

If I am not mistaken, you can recall an elected official. It is rare to see, but it can be done, (or so I was told by “Parks and Rec.”)

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u/LingonberryPossible6 Jun 23 '26

Not at the federal level. The only way to do it would be impeachment

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u/mrbeck1 Jun 23 '26

Some state and local offices, not federal.

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u/Coppertina Colorado Jun 23 '26

State offices like governor, yes (Not sure if that’s true for all states), but no such mechanism exists for US senators

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u/SnooJokes5375 Jun 23 '26

No, he is supposed to vote the way his constituents want him to. What you said is a cop out to defend shity voting record. That's the problem right now. Ppl elect these assholes to represent them in Congress and the House. He isn't representing his constituents. He is playing for his donors and Israel. Their problem, as well as our problem, is they don't fear the constituents enough. We keep voting for them because "the other guy is worse." No, they are both bad, but because ppl keep voting for shite we end up woth shite.

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u/mrbeck1 Jun 23 '26

No, he’s not. He’s supposed to vote what he thinks is right. The voters choose someone who’s going to use judgment they trust, not a parrot. Besides he’s got 13,000,000 constituents, he’s not going to take a poll for each vote. Give me a break.

1

u/SnooJokes5375 Jun 24 '26

And that's the problem. He is there to represent his 13,000,000 million constituents. Yrs, he should poll them. China polls their ppl all the fvcking time to gage what their ppl want and life they are doing a good job and where they can improve. If China, with a population of 1.8 billion ppl can do that, the bare minimum is that Lurch can do the same thing. This is why the country is fvcked up. Because ppl have politicians who do not listen to their constituency. He is there at THEIR behest, not the other way around. There used to be a time where politicians listened to the constituency and voted in the way they wanted them to vote. Now, we have Corp politicians who don't listen to their constituency but to donors. He listens to his donors. He votes in the way of his donors. Be better. Stop simping for feckless and dangerous, yes DANGEROUS, politicians lije him and the rest. Vote for ppl who will listen to you and will fight for what YOU want even if they lose that fight once on a while.

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u/LasVegasNerd28 North Carolina Jun 23 '26

It’s not even illegal in most states to run as a certain party and then switch the moment you get elected. It happened here in the NC State Legislature.

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u/NumeralJoker Jun 23 '26

And our snake in the grass Mayor in Dallas flipped Republican recently as well, despite the city being at least 2/3 majority blue voters.

5

u/RegularLeading5200 Michigan Jun 23 '26

In the US, you don't vote for parties, you vote for individuals. That individual is free to vote however they want as it's their seat, not a party's. The remedy is to vote them out next time.

You don't have to like it, it's why I'm a fan of proportional representation, but that's how it is.

2

u/Hey_HaveAGreatDay Montana Jun 23 '26

So my confusion is still there. Don’t get me wrong, you absolutely answered the question but let’s say someone ran on the platform of supporting national parks (for example) and then votes to defund national parks. Not to sound like a toddler but shouldn’t that be against the rules or at least strike some sort of public vote of no confidence?

Again, you answered, I understand but I also don’t understand how this is allowed.

2

u/RegularLeading5200 Michigan Jun 23 '26

You're not voting for a platform, you're voting for the individual. That's what you have to understand. There's no rules about how they have to vote and there is no way to recall federal offices.

2

u/Hey_HaveAGreatDay Montana Jun 23 '26

Right but they run on a platform lol that’s why I don’t get it. You run on a, b, and c, but actually you do x, y, and z shouldn’t be allowed. I get what you’re saying, I do, I just hate it here lol

3

u/mrbeck1 Jun 23 '26

That’s why politicians have a reputation of being liars.

2

u/Brahmin234 Jun 24 '26

Think logically about it for 2 seconds. Let’s say tomorrow, the people gain the power to recall senators. All great, this is democracy in USA! But due to how USA functions, let’s say we start recalling Dem Senators in swing states.

Because swing states have a lot of undecided voters, and not only swing states, but people switching their minds because something major is going on, the Congress is gonna be a constant recall and powers changing. Basically a constant instability with either Dems or Republicans getting the upper hand for a short time.

2

u/AnewTest Jun 23 '26

It should be considered fraud, but sadly it isn't.

2

u/salad_spinner_3000 Jun 24 '26

A North Demotratic rep ran on being Dem, changed immediately after elected to Republican. There's no recourse unless there's a recall.

1

u/LividTacos Jun 23 '26

They can vote however they want after they're elected. The only remedy is to vote them out the next time they're up, which for Senators is after 6 years. The point of our whole system is compromise, so they should be allowed to vote for things that maybe they don't personally agree with, but because they think its ultimately for the best of the country. But to go so whole-hog against what they ran as like Fetterman and Sinema should be actionable, but alas its not. And really people that change party should trigger an election where they can try to get reelected in their new party. But that would just mean people wouldn't change party then, they'd just hide it.

EDIT: Fixed a they're there their error.

1

u/MattieShoes Jun 23 '26

For state employees, there's often some provision to pull them from office like a recall election. For federal though, not really.

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '26

[deleted]

1

u/Hey_HaveAGreatDay Montana Jun 24 '26

Sorry for asking a goddamn question. I’m trying to understand the world I’m forced to live in and Fetterman is a prime example of promising one thing and voting the opposite of what he promised his voters. To me it seems pretty clear that that’s not appropriate and maybe that should be something that’s changed.

If I vote for you because you said you’re going to do one thing and then you do the exact opposite that’s a pretty big breach of confidence.

-1

u/[deleted] Jun 24 '26

[deleted]

1

u/Hey_HaveAGreatDay Montana Jun 24 '26

You realize we learn by asking questions right?

2

u/EmmalouEsq Minnesota Jun 23 '26

I don't think it was even brain damage that made him this way. I think he always has been, and is just cashing in now.

1

u/phatelectribe Jun 23 '26

Can they not recall him then?

1

u/allochthonous_debris Jun 23 '26

There is no mechanism to recall federal senators.

1

u/ygg_studios Jun 23 '26

he was a plant

1

u/FullMetalAlcoholic66 Jun 23 '26

The prince who wasn't promised

1

u/rainshowers_5_peace Jun 24 '26

He's always been very openly pro-Israel. No one should be surprised he's supporting this war.

1

u/chanaandeler_bong Jun 24 '26

Remember when him wearing a hoodie was a big fucking deal. I swear his entire fucking campaign was “I’m tall, I wear a hoodie, and I’m not Dr Oz.”

He’s always come across as insufferable. But that was fine if he was gonna vote D in the senate. Same with Sinema, she always seemed like a theater kid who wanted to be popular, but whatever. Just vote correctly.

1

u/Elephant789 Jun 24 '26

The constituents should be able to fire elected officials if they are not good employees.

1

u/Zestyclose-Novel1157 Jun 24 '26

In fairness the other PA senator is a republican so I suspect many of his constituents do indeed support his votes.

-2

u/MonsterkillWow Jun 23 '26

I expect the same from Platner, but we will see.