Election

Anyone who watched the Kentucky Derby this year was treated to a thrilling race in which the horse with the worst odds — at 80-1 — surged from behind during the last stretch, passing the two frontrunners that had been dominant since the start. No one was paying attention to Rich Strike, way in the back. And no one — not even his owners — saw it coming. This exact scenario — except with people, not horses — is playing out in Pennsylvania’s US Senate race, where underdog Kathy Barnette’s odds had been, for a long time, 358-1 (the margin by which her campaign has been outspent). Barnette is now neck-and-neck with the other top contenders, Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dave McCormick. One Pennsylvania Republican strategist has called the race “a dead heat.

Bipartisanship is a word used too frequently, and seldom ever found in the swamps of Washington, DC. On Tuesday, Congressman David B. McKinley, Republican from West Virginia's former First District, named “one of the most bipartisan members of Congress,” battled Congressman Alex Mooney, representative of the former Second District. The two were competing to represent West Virginia’s newest congressional district, which stretches from Jefferson to Mason counties. The latest congressional map came as a result of 2020 census data that revealed a loss of population in the Mountain State. It was Alex Mooney who scored the win and secured the Republican nomination. Though that wasn't shocking for political aficionados who recently watched Hillbilly Elegy author J.D.

After eight months that felt like eighty years, the Ohio Republican Senate primary has at last come to a close. It ended as it began, as a kind of highbrow-cum-low political farce, Aristophanes’ take on post-Trump America. Think a pileup of clown cars on the highway — and then cut to a grinning Donald Trump in a rescue helicopter, swooping down tauntingly only to pull back up again. From the start, the race was an exercise in how far good men would go in order to nab an endorsement from The Donald. And while obscene, the endless attention seeking did have a certain thrill to it. Would JD Vance deny that Vladimir Putin exists? Would Josh Mandel murder an epidemiologist on live TV? Tune in next week to find out, only on The Real Housecucks of Ohio.

News stories covering the primary races for Pennsylvania's US Senate seat generally go like this: Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman is the Democratic frontrunner pulling ahead big time; now let’s talk about the tit-for-tat attack ads between Republicans Dr. Oz and Dave McCormick for twelve paragraphs. Sure, the Republican primary is developing every day, as Oz and McCormick exchange polling leads faster than Kyle Busch and Kyle Harvick. But at the end of the day (on May 17), GOP voters will have one of two, nice-looking, middle-aged, super-rich Trump wannabes representing them. What happens after the primary is where things really get interesting. Fetterman stands around six feet, eight inches tall and frowns a lot.

Cockburn started his day yesterday afternoon scratching his head, and the confusion wasn’t due to a hangover (this time). “Trumpworld Goes Into Meltdown After Trump Endorses Dr. Oz” was one headline Cockburn found puzzling. “Ex-president faces fierce GOP backlash after endorsing TV’s Dr Oz in Senate race” was another. Things were equally befuddling on Twitter. “This endorsement could divide MAGA in the only way that matters: he could lose America First conservatives over it,” tweeted Breitbart’s editor-at-large Joel Pollak. “It’s like Donald Trump’s staff is sabotaging Trump by convincing him to make the worst possible endorsements,” echoed right-wing radio host Erick Erickson.

I recently had the chance to peek behind Dr. Mehmet Oz’s curtain, and what I saw made me view the TV doctor-turned candidate for Pennsylvania’s US Senate seat in a new light. As I waited for Oz to appear, I decided to take the pulse of the patient crowd. The first woman d’un certain âge (I’d estimate the average age in the room was 62 and majority female) said she was absolutely decided in her support for Oz. She enjoyed watching his show for years and came to the political rally more as a fan than a voter. But then she revised her unequivocal vote to say, “Well, if Trump endorses him. I’ll vote for whoever Trump picks. There’s no question.” The next person I talked to was of an identical demographic and also a big fan of The Dr. Oz Show.