Philadelphia Inquirer Drops Blistering Profile on PA GOP Senate Candidate Who ‘Lives Part Time In Connecticut’
AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey
Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, Dave McCormick, was profiled by The Philadelphia Inquirer this week in a blistering piece that raised the question of his ties to the state – in a similar fashion to failed 2022 candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz.
The Inquirer’s Julia Terruso opened her profile in brutal fashion, writing:
As Dave McCormick launched his 67-county campaign bus tour on a Saturday afternoon in Lititz, he told supporters gathered that he was going to “live on the bus,” through November.
He flew back to Connecticut later that evening.
Political journalist Nick Field commented on Terruso’s opening, writing, “One day I hope to write a lede half as devastating as this.”
Terruso notes that McCormick and Oz are not entirely comparable as McCormick “has much stronger ties to Pennsylvania than the celebrity doctor” who beat him in the 2022 GOP primary by 1,000 votes.
She does note, however, that McCormick’s wealth has created similar issues on the campaign trail to those that plagued Oz – connecting with working-class voters.
“McCormick is a candidate straddling two worlds — his small town Northeast Pennsylvania upbringing, which he’s trying to highlight, and his career as a mega-successful former hedgefund CEO who is friends with some of the country’s wealthiest and most influential people,” Terruso wrote.
The profile goes on to detail some awkward exchanges McCormick had with voters while on the campaign trail:
McCormick doesn’t talk much on the trail about his time at Bridgewater Associates, the global hedge fund he led, which invested heavily in China. But he also doesn’t hide who he is, making connections between parts of life on Connecticut’s Gold Coast with voters he meets along the Northeast Extension.
Sipping coffee with veterans in Palmerton, a former Marine brought up the high cost of gas.
“Dina’s on the board of Exxon,” McCormick noted, gesturing to his wife.
As the veterans talked about the unexpected bonds within military service, McCormick told a story about finding out his friend — the CEO of Lockheed Martin — flew troops into Desert Storm around the time McCormick served in the Army there.
Despite the cutting reporting in the profile, McCormick shared it on X, writing, “‘The guy’s a Pennsylvanian,’ said Doug Mclinko, a Bradford County commissioner, after joining other supporters to sign McCormick’s bus. ‘He fits in in any hunting camp in Bradford County like a glove.’”
Other observers and pundits shared the profile online:
__
Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com
