Until he became lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, John Fetterman’s only political experience was as mayor of Braddock for a dozen years. Elected after receiving 148 votes — one more than his nearest competitor — Fetterman tried to give the people hope of a better future as he promised a better economy, more jobs, and a renewed spirit.
Braddock was in pretty bad shape when Fetterman became mayor. It was in even worse shape when he left, as Spectator World‘s Teresa Mull described it.
I drove around gawking at piles of rubble, decaying brick mansions with vegetation consuming them, and streets and sidewalks filled with trash. At one point, I avoided a raccoon out and about in broad daylight as I searched for and never found the “nice part of town.” I ended up at a country club restaurant where I stopped for a cup of tea. The view from the Grand View Golf Club was indeed grand, and surprised by the sudden change, I asked my waitress if I was still in Braddock.
“No, this would be North Braddock,” she informed me.
Ah. My waitress was born and raised in Braddock proper and recalled when it had all sorts of shops and “you used to be able to walk up and down the streets.” Though, she added, shaking her head, “it’s a wreck now.”
“I have truly never seen a more miserable place than Braddock, Pennsylvania,” writes Mull. “Google Images gives you the general idea, but until you see street after street of utter neglect, garbage, and decrepitude, you can’t get a sense of how bad it really is.”
It would be inaccurate to blame all this on Fetterman alone, although Democratic policies have, quite simply, never worked. Whatever Fetterman could have done to make things better, he didn’t do. And whatever he could do to make things worse, he did.
Fetterman’s failures in Braddock are well-documented. It was a struggling town with not much going on when he got there, but by all accounts, he didn’t do much to help anyone but himself over more than a dozen years in office. In fact, it seems he somehow managed to make things worse, because by failing to follow through on his promises, he broke the spirit of the Braddock people and incited the anger of those who were initially motivated to vote for a candidate who offered hope.
Even voters who were initially captivated must realize Fetterman isn’t capable of doing the work that matters, such as fixing the economy (he lived on his parents’ dime until he was forty-nine) and keeping communities safe. If you don’t believe me, just spend five minutes walking the streets of Braddock, Pennsylvania, the most damning Dr. Oz ad of all.
How does a guy like this rise so high in American politics? Mull believes that it’s amazing that with his “phony tough guy act he was ever chosen for anything more than an extra on Pawn Stars.”
Voters from both parties yearn for that “tough guy” who will ride into Washington and clean out the nest of vipers. I’d settle for someone who’s competent enough to pass a budget reasonably close to being balanced.
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