The October 10–October 23, 2022 issue of New York Magazine’s cover story is an in-depth profile of Democratic Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman by writer-at-large Rebecca Traister, diving into the dynamics of one of the nation’s most competitive Senate races during a pivotal midterm election cycle. The story, which includes an interview with Fetterman, chronicles how his edge in the race — as an unorthodox Democratic candidate who “defied the right-wing caricatures of the contemporary left as elite and effete and out of touch” — has been impacted by a stroke that has left him with lingering side effects seized on by his opponent.
“I grew up in Pennsylvania and my family is there, so I’ve always been a close observer of the state’s politics and its gendered and racial dynamics,” said Traister. “As a longtime observer of Fetterman’s career, I was particularly struck by the way the right wing has seized upon his stroke and recuperation in a way that makes use of arguments I’m used to hearing deployed against candidates who are not big, straight, white men. In noting the open cruelty of the attacks, especially from his opponent who is a physician, I was very curious how a guy like Fetterman who has projected being big and physically tough was responding during such a high-stakes election.”
Also in the issue is an excerpt from an interview with John Fetterman and Kara Swisher for her new podcast On With Kara Swisher, where they discuss their shared experience of surviving a stroke.