He could have dropped out. Fetterman suffered a severe stroke that nearly killed him last spring. Fetterman went into the bunker and emerged with evident mental impairments. This aspect of the race must be discussed since the recovery period that should have happened to prevent permanent brain damage passed. He pushed it and now requires every electronic device known to man to comprehend what’s being said in the upper chamber. And now, he’s back because he’s clinically depressed.

I can understand how one could travel down this path. Fetterman reportedly hears others speak to him like they’re the teachers from the “Peanuts” cartoons, which is disconcerting not only to his health but also to serving the people of Pennsylvania. Like Biden, Mr. Fetterman can’t do the job. Supposedly, attending public events, ribbon-cutting-like ceremonies, and meeting with voters could lead to a blown fuse box upstairs. And one cannot wonder if this latest hospital visit is being executed to blunt the many legitimate inquiries into how this man will be able to serve his constituents.

Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), who serves with Fetterman, doesn’t do much but is mentally able. He has a political bunker of his own, hiding in what appears to be the political equivalent of the Keystone State’s game lands system, and only emerges every six years to remind people who he is and, more importantly, who his dad was, to re-elect him. It works; Casey’s entire career is predicated on his name ID. There are plenty of do-nothing members of Congress on both sides, but they don’t hear “wah wah wah” in conversations with others.

I didn’t address Sen. Mark Kirk, the former Republican from Illinois, who clinched an upset win during the 2010 Tea Party wave. He also suffered a severe stroke during his term in office. Yet, he took time to recover, spending nearly a year in a rehabilitation facility, but he also should have opted not to run for re-election. He got lucky in 2010. That was not going to be repeated in 2016, even with his moderate stripes—and it didn’t. He got trounced by now-Sen. Tammy Duckworth.

But back to Fetterman, what’s the plan? I don’t see this man lasting a full term; he can’t make it two months into the new session without going to the hospital. Will this be an instance where Mrs. Fetterman steps in to replace her husband? Rolling Stone alluded to her as the de facto candidate in the waning days of the 2022 race. Pennsylvania’s governor is a Democrat; it wouldn’t be a hard transition. And there’s no real blowback here. It might raise some eyebrows as it seems the 2022 race was a fraud: were voters in PA backing Fetterman or his wife, who wasn’t on the ballot? It can’t happen right now, but maybe a year or two into his term, the former Braddock mayor will call it quits and hope his wife can assume his duties. The wild card is if Gov. Josh Shapiro has someone else in mind who wouldn’t carry a whiff of controversy. We’ll revisit this debate if Fetterman can do the job, but it’s becoming clear that he’s unable.