The Enviable Values of John Fetterman & Coach Corso

I watched about thirty minutes of Tuesday’s Pennsylvania Senate Debate. I’ve watched College GameDay most Saturday mornings since the 90s.  Both Democratic candidate for Senate Joe Fetterman and Coach Lee Corso are modeling a better us.

Admittedly, most political observers and sports fans do not consider links between Fetterman and Corso. Hear me out.

Both Fetterman and Coach Corso suffered strokes. Fetterman this September and Corso in 2009. American politics, entertainment, and commentary favor quick and pithy. Styled and assured over vulnerable or imperfect. One-liners – especially when biting. Donald Trump owes his Presidency, in part, to his bombastic, overpowering, and often cruel style. Dominance. You’re Fired!

John Fetterman and Lee Corso offer something else. Fetterman searched for words during Tuesday’s debate. His speech was stilted. Coach Corso’s speech is similarly affected. He sometimes pauses mid-delivery and does not react with nearly the same rapid-fire banter during GameDay’s signature closing segment on Saturday mornings.  He needs to take a beat. So what?

Both performances are really beautiful. And brave. And vulnerable. And representative.

Coach Corso, a Florida resident and longtime heart of GameDay, told The Gainesville Sun, “The one thing I was really good at was being spontaneous. I was quick-witted. I lost that with my stroke.” Kirk Herbstreit, his one-time mentee and longtime GameDay co-host, posts loving Instagram stories of Coach doing vocal exercises and practicing his scripts for the closing picks segment each week. They are endearing, funny, and pull back the curtain on how hard Corso works to be on TV. This week 87-year-old Corso joked about “feeling like an old man” when people offer him assistance at the airport. Part of John Fetterman’s opening statement too acknowledged that the polish was off in his delivery because of his recent medical issue. He stated, “Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. I had a stroke. …I might miss come words during this debate. Mush two words together.” Again, so what?

In response to Tuesday’s debate, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted, “Holy shit, Fetterman is fried” and “Pretty obvious why Fetterman refuses to release his full medical records!” MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, also tweeting in reference to Fetterman’s performance, wrote “This is painful to watch regardless of one’s politics.”

Corso receives similar evaluations (along with many loving ones). After last Saturday’s show, the GameDay facebook page included comments in the vein of “Fire Lee Corso. It’s sad to watch you parade him out for minutes at a time while he struggles to complete sentences and spits all over himself” and “I can’t even watch this pregame anymore because he makes it so uncomfortable.  You should take him off the air. Much, much respect to coach but it’s hurting his legacy and our pregame.”

Uncomfortable? Painful to watch? “Our” pregame?

We will all get sick. All of us are one accident away from a major medical crisis. If we are lucky, we will age. Politics and sports entertainment are not just for the presentationally perfect. Heck, football is a causal agent in many of the injuries fans don’t want to “see” in commentary or game calls. And politics is full of presentationally perfect cheaters, hucksters, and insurrectionists. Bill Clinton was “the great communicator” and Josh Hawley sure looks good in a suit.

I want a politic that can pause and listen. One where all are at the table. One that is not made uncomfortable by the reality and struggle of humanity. One that reveres perseverance and stands in awe of those who dare to contribute while infirm.

The full of John Fetterman’s opening statement was: “Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. I had a stroke. He (Dr. Oz) has never let me forget that. I might miss come words during this debate. Mush two words together. But it knocked me down but I’m gonna keep coming back up.  And this campaign is all about, to me, is about fighting for everyone in Pennsylvania. That ever got knocked down. That needs to get back up. And fighting for all forgotten communities all across Pennsylvania that also got knocked down.”

I keep thinking about two lines in Fetterman’s occasionally jilted opening, “I had a stroke. He (Dr. Oz) has never let me forget that.” Never let me forget that. The cruelty. The rest of us need not replicate the cruelty.

One can disagree with Fetterman on policy and cast their vote elsewhere. I am not of the view that all questions about candidates’ health are off limits. But John Fetterman took the stage with full acknowledgement of an auto processing disorder after a recent stroke. Was it presentationally perfect? No. Did he make clear that he was representing all of those who had been knocked down in life by simply taking the stage? Yes. Political voice is not sole province of the melodic.

John Fetterman and Lee Corso are America. There is joy and mirth every Saturday morning because of Lee Corso. His mascot emblazoned closing pick embodies the fun of college football. John Fetterman showed on Tuesday that elected office can be for all.

If one is uncomfortable with either man, it is time to look inward, work to do better, and stay off the internet.