ROOTING FOR FETTERMAN.

• Author: Ervin, Mike
• Position: SMART ASS CRIPPLE - Senatorial candidate John Fetterman

Of all the high-profile midterm elections outside my state in 2022, the one that interested me most was the race for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, between Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman and Republican snake oil salesman Mehmet Oz.

I really wanted Fetterman to win, and it stressed me out a lot. It felt like much was at stake for me personally, even though, technically, it wasn't, because I live in Illinois.

Of course, control of the Senate leadership was up for grabs. And while I don't really view the Democratic Party as my savior, I do recognize the importance of keeping people like Mitch McConnell as far away as possible from the levers of power. I also know it's important to beat back the increasingly bizarre zombie-like invasion of rightwing candidates into the political arena, especially those who hasten our nation's descent into a "celebritocracy."

While the same was true in other states, such as Georgia and Arizona, the outcomes didn't seem to have the same potential impact on my own future well-being. The difference, I believe, is that Fetterman had a stroke last May. I also thought it was noteworthy that he didn't just shake it off and quickly re-emerge unscathed, like a hokey Hollywood script.

Fetterman stayed in the race and struggled publicly with the aftereffects of his stroke. He wrestled particularly hard with new cognitive obstacles. When he spoke, his train of thought often seemed to derail. When listening to others, he needed to communicate using closed captioning because his brain suddenly had an easier time processing written words rather than spoken ones.

It was clear that because of the stroke, Fetterman had joined the disability community. He was now officially one of us. Welcome to the club. And if he won, it would be a significant image upgrade from the two most well-known and embarrassing elected officials with disabilities: Republicans Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, and Madison Cawthorn, a former Representative of North Carolina. Both are rightwing rapscallions and wheelchair users.

As a fellow white man in a wheelchair, I've always felt compelled to seize every opportunity to resolutely declare that the views expressed by Abbott and Cawthorn do not represent the views of all white men in wheelchairs.

Please note, however, that I added the word "former" to Cawthorn's legislative title. He generated so many unflattering headlines in his two brief years in office that even the Republican...