Democrats Rage at Fetterman for Setting Up Joint Fundraising Operation with GOP Senator

Democrats are once again deeply upset with Senator John Fetterman after he decided to set up a joint fundraising operation with Senator Dave McCormick, Pennsylvania’s other senator who happens to be a Republican. Mr. Fetterman, once viewed as a great progressive hero, is now deeply unpopular with his party’s base.Mr. Fetterman has long bucked his party on key votes in the Senate, especially in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel. He was the only Democrat to oppose his party’s government shutdown strategies both last fall and earlier this year, saying both times that it was incumbent on Congress to keep basic services available to people. Mr. Fetterman has more recently been critical of some of the left-wing candidates being nominated in congressional races across the country. Mr. McCormick could not be more different from his Democratic counterpart. A West Point alumnus and Princeton-educated Army combat veteran, Mr. McCormick worked for decades in finance, including a stint as chief executive of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world’s largest hedge funds. He was elected to the Senate in a narrow election in 2024, defeating Mr. Fetterman’s friend and ally, Senator Bob Casey. The new joint fundraising committee raised plenty of eyebrows after Politico first reported its existence on Thursday. According to the Federal Election Commission, the committee — Common Ground PA — was set up on Monday. The joint fundraising operation is an umbrella organization which includes four other political action committees, two of which are dedicated to supporting Mr. Fetterman while the other two support Mr. McCormick.The fundraising committee will allow Messrs. Fetterman and McCormick to raise money together and disburse it to other candidates or organizations. After the committee’s existence was first reported, several Pennsylvania Democrats did not hide their anger at Mr. Fetterman. “Helping the Republicans raise money to spend against Democrats is bad, right?” Congressman Chris Deluzio, a western Pennsylvania Democrat, wrote sarcastically on X. The popular liberal X account Republican Against Trump was more direct in sharing the news, writing simply: “WOW.”A former press secretary for Pennsylvania’s two-term Democratic Governor Tom Wolf, J.J. Abbott, responded on X to say that Mr. Fetterman is helping Mr. McCormick’s image, given he narrowly won his Senate race in the ultimate swing state but still votes as a party-line Republican.“He is voting 100% with Trump but getting away with it and faking being a moderate sensible guy while helping MAGA, Big Tech, Wall Street, etc instead of PA,”Mr. Abbott wrote of Mr. McCormick. “Fetterman is giving him constant cover AND taking up attention.”There has been speculation for years that Republicans could try to get Mr. Fetterman to change parties or at least become an independent and join the GOP conference. He has constantly pushed back about such rumors, however. “I’d be a terrible Republican who still votes overwhelmingly with Democrats,” he wrote in a Washington Post column earlier this year.

Democrats Rage at Fetterman for Setting Up Joint Fundraising Operation with GOP Senator

Democrats Rage at Fetterman for Setting Up Joint Fundraising Operation with GOP Senator

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