In Erie the day before, as Oz walked along a beaten-down section of Parade Street, a man pulled up alongside and remarked, “I ain’t voting for him — I am a damn Democrat — but I’m sure glad he is here to see what is happening in my city.” Ten minutes later, after talking to him about drugs and crime on the east side, he was a bit less certain about his vote.
Oz said such conversations with voters are what has most improved his campaign from its early stumbles.
“To be good at whatever you do in life, you have to approach it with a greater purpose. When I listen to people’s concerns about their community but also their hopes and aspirations that became my purpose pretty quickly, helping to solve those problems is a call to serve my state,” Oz told the Washington Examiner magazine.
The expectation that he would evolve into a fire-breathing populist because of the endorsement he received from former President Donald Trump has never materialized. G. Terry Madonna, a political science professor at Millersville University, said he wasn’t surprised. “He is a professional, much like Glenn Youngkin was in his run for governor of Virginia but also in how Youngkin has governed. Both have found a way to be their own candidate while still receiving the former president’s support,” he said.
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