Yahoo News 
Biden Goes to Bat for John Fetterman in Pennsylvania
(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden praised Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman on Thursday during a rare appearance with a candidate from a competitive Senate race, saying his victory in November was essential to helping Democrats keep control of the chamber.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Twitter Tumbles as US Weighs Security Reviews for Musk Deals
Trump Deposed in Suit by Investors Claiming Fraud in ‘Apprentice’ Videophone Pitches
Fed-Obsessed Traders Lift Stocks as Yields Slide: Markets Wrap
Apple’s Industrial Design Chief Hankey to Leave Three Years After Ive
“We need John badly,” Biden said at a fundraiser in Philadelphia, adding Fetterman has “got to win.”
“We need 51. We actually need 53 votes,” in the Senate, said Biden, who has said his goal is to net a two-seat pick up in the Senate to advance his agenda and confirm more nominees.
The fundraiser was the second of two events Biden held with Fetterman on Thursday.
Fetterman’s race against Republican Mehmet Oz is one of the most hotly contested in the country and could decide control of the Senate. Oz, a celebrity doctor, has narrowed Fetterman’s lead in recent polls after the Democrat suffered a stroke that curbed his campaign schedule.
Biden also delivered a jab at Oz, who he said was “for undoing everything we have done.”
He mocked the Republican candidate who he said went to high school in Delaware, a state that Biden represented in the Senate for decades. “Delaware was smart enough to send him to New Jersey,” Biden said. Fetterman’s campaign has sought to paint Oz as an outsider with few ties to Pennsylvania.
Earlier: Unpopular Biden Shuns Obama-Trump Midterm Travel Strategy
The president’s visit to the state, just 19 days out from Election Day, is his only planned campaign travel this week.
He has avoided several key Senate battlegrounds -- including Georgia, Nevada and Arizona -- as his low approval ratings have turned him into a drag on Democrats running in close races. But his birth state of Pennsylvania is one place where the White House has decided he can help.
The president is planning a return visit to Philadelphia next Friday with Vice President Kamala Harris for a Pennsylvania Democratic Party dinner.
Earlier in the day, accompanied by Fetterman and other elected officials, Biden visited the site of the Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh, which collapsed in January, a disaster that the White House has held up as emblematic of the nation’s failing roads and bridges.
The replacement bridge in Pittsburgh is expected to be completed in December, according to the White House. It received $25.3 million in federal funds, but was not paid for directly by the infrastructure law, the White House said in a statement.
Biden was already traveling to Pittsburgh to deliver a speech about infrastructure on the day the bridge collapsed. He made a last-minute visit to the site before his speech.
The president Thursday said his policies were focused on “rebuilding the middle class, something John knows a lot about and talks a lot about.”
Fetterman holds a 5 percentage-point lead over Oz, according to the FiveThirtyEight polling average, down from 12 points in August. An AARP poll conducted between Oct. 4 and Oct. 12 showed Fetterman leading Oz 48% to 46% among likely Pennsylvania voters.
The Democrat’s campaign released a letter Wednesday from his primary care doctor saying he is recovering well from the stroke he suffered in May and can serve without restrictions.
Republicans have questioned whether Fetterman’s health issues have rendered him unfit for office, and Oz has accused his opponent of not being transparent about his medical records.
Read more: Fetterman’s Stroke Puts Focus on Debate as Lead Shrinks
Biden later said he thinks Democrats will keep their razor-thin majority in the Senate, telling reporters during a visit to a sandwich shop, “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”
Biden, when asked if he will travel to Georgia and Nevada before Election Day, said he had “about 16 to 18 requests” from candidates around the country and his team was figuring out plans to campaign.
This week, Biden pledged to codify nationwide abortion rights with his first bill in the new Congress -- an outcome that hinges on the long-shot scenario of Democrats at least keeping their majority in the House and making gains in the Senate.
--With assistance from Mario Parker and Jennifer Jacobs.
(Updates with new details throughout.)
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
The Private Jet That Took 100 Russians Away From Putin’s War
Europe’s Most Valuable Tech Company Tries to Avoid the Chip War
Female Bosses Face a New Bias: Employees Refusing to Work Overtime
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
