In recent years, the progressive movement has been assailed by the conservative critics as a movement of urban, liberal elites, with some going so far as saying it is a self-hating, anti-America agenda. However, Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman – a goatee and tattoo sporting, bald, Sheetz-is-better-than-Wawa advocate standing over 6 feet in height – is shattering any cultural stereotypes of progressive politicians; even his campaign website claims, “John doesn’t look or talk like a typical politician, and he hasn’t followed the traditional path to running for office.”
Fetterman comes from an average, middle-class American background, born to teenage parents in Reading. Eventually, the family moved to York, where Fetterman played high school football, eventually taking his skills to play at Albright where he played offensive tackle and majored in finance. When he was 23, Fetterman became a Big Brother as part of the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program in New Haven, Conn., mentoring a boy whose mother was diagnosed with AIDS and whose father had recently passed away due to complications related to the disease. Reflecting on this time in an interview with The Nation, Fetterman said, “I became preoccupied with the concept of the random lottery of birth… Why was I born into this incredibly privileged and comfortable existence, and this child, through no fault of his own, was an AIDS orphan by eight and a half and was living in an incredibly dangerous section of New Haven? All of this, of course, eight blocks away from one of the world’s most elite universities.”
Fetterman also served as an AmeriCorps volunteer in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, where he set up the neighborhood’s first computer lab and taught GED classes to young mothers and fathers. In 1999, Fetterman earned a Masters of Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where he believed he could “fuse public policy, social work and business together” to address issues of systemic inequality and injustice. Returning to Braddock – a suburb of Pittsburgh that was one of the poorest and most challenged communities in Pennsylvania at the time – Fetterman set up a GED program and, in 2005, was encouraged by his students to run for mayor, a primary election he won by a single vote.
During his 13 years as mayor, he was consistently seen as one of the most progressive mayors in America (the Guardian even speculated if he could be the coolest mayor in America in 2009). Currently, Braddock now has a community center, urban gardens and a free store run by Fetterman’s wife, Gisele, whom he married in 2008. Gisele has an American story in her own right. According to Fetterman’s campaign website – “Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Gisele’s mother took her and her younger brother to the United States when she was seven, all of them undocumented immigrants. They lived in a one-room apartment in New York City and were teaching themselves English while her mother worked cleaning hotels and houses. After 15 years of living in the shadows, Gisele received her green card in 2004 and became a United States citizen in 2009.”
As seen by his story, the Lieutenant Governor background has been absolutely American – a person who has dedicated his life to public service and expanding the promise of America to all Americans. Fetterman’s progressive politics have been branded for Pennsylvanians. Perhaps what has turned rural Pennsylvanians who would typically not vote for a progressive candidate to Fetterman is his campaign plank about “forgotten places” and “forgotten people.” As part of the campaign, Fetterman wants to make sure these Americans, who live in mostly rural or semi-rural areas, “receive the benefits, investment and focus that they deserve for the amazing and significant contributions they made to help make America into the industrial powerhouse it is today.” Further clarifying, “These places matter. The people that live there matter. And making sure that we rebuild and invest in these communities is critical.”
Through his politics, and especially through his current campaign for U.S. Senate, Fetterman has turned progressive politics on its head, from an agenda of liberal elites in coastal cities to a set of values that can work for every Pennsylvanian and every American.
The views expressed in the article are strictly that of the author – Matthew Smith ’21 – and are not endorsed by the Etownian, Elizabethtown College or its faculty and staff.
