Mehmet Oz is trailing in polls. A key Republican has yet to endorse him since the celebrity doctor won the GOP nomination for Pennsylvania Senate more than a month ago. And Oz has gone dark on the airwaves since May 21 — even as his Democratic rival John Fetterman burnishes his brand on TV as a political outsider, and paints Oz as a carpetbagger from New Jersey.

This is not the general election kickoff in a pivotal Senate race that Republicans were hoping for…

A Pennsylvania Republican operative who requested anonymity to speak frankly argued that Oz should be on television now: “It’s not complicated. … Drive up Fetterman’s negatives and bolster your positives.”

Oz’s campaign declined to share details about its TV plans and did not respond to a question about whether Oz planned to spend more of his own money on the campaign. But his team expressed confidence it will have the funds it needs to tell his story.