Letters to the editor
Readers respond
Fetterman’s seat belongs to Pennsylvania
John Fetterman has every right to leave the Democratic Party if he chooses (“Fetterman has no right to leave the Democratic Party,” July 31). In many ways, it is the party that is leaving him.
Bruce Ledewitz’s commentary underscores a larger problem in American politics: Too many party leaders act as if elected offices belong to the party apparatus rather than to the voters. The Senate seat belongs to Pennsylvania, not to the Democratic Party. Sen Fetterman represents all Pennsylvanians, not just partisan activists. Fetterman’s official Senate materials likewise emphasize that he serves the people of the commonwealth, and that this is a statewide seat representing Pennsylvania as a whole.
The modern Democratic Party is increasingly dominated by two forces: reflexive Trump derangement and the rise of the Democrat Socialists of America (Communists) who are far outside the political mainstream. That combination is driving the party away from moderation, realism and broad public appeal. Fetterman stands as an inconvenient obstacle to that shift because he is a centrist voice, was elected to represent all Pennsylvanians, and has maintained a pro-Israel position in a party that too often tolerates hostility toward Israel and antisemitism.
Ledewitz also raises an important point about Senate majority control and the consequences of elections. Control of the Senate matters because it determines the confirmation of Supreme Court justices and other nominees. Republicans were able to confirm three justices during Trump’s first term because they controlled the Senate. Democrats, under Harry Reid, changed the rules for most nominations by eliminating the filibuster for all nominees except Supreme Court justices, and that became the precedent that later shaped the Gorsuch fight.
As a lifelong conservative and libertarian, I support Fetterman because he has shown independence, common sense and a willingness to put Pennsylvania ahead of party orthodoxy. He has earned my respect and my support and should do what’s best for Pennsylvania.
Andrew Neft
Pittsburgh
Fetterman stands his ground
It’s just like Mama Cass Elliot had said: “You’ve got to make your own kind of music and sing your own special song — even if nobody else sings along.” And we know that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, fellow Democrats, as well as the left-leaning media are not singing Sen. John Fetterman’s pro-Israel song (“Meeting Netanyahu, Fetterman calls Mamdani ‘worthless,’ online, July 30). Instead, they are on an anti-Israel, pro-Hamas rant.
Score one for Fetterman, who is his own man and will not be coerced into supporting anything which he does not believe in, and who has shown himself time and time again to be a genuine mensch.
JoAnn Lee Frank
Clearwater, Florida
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