The path to the White House is long, arduous and exhausting. Becoming a candidate is just the start of the electoral process. Selected candidates must persuade voters that they deserve their individual votes and obtain critical votes from Electoral College voters. Individuals and groups can support or oppose a candidate by paying for public communications (communications through any broadcast, cable or satellite communication, newspaper, magazine, outdoor advertising service, mass mailing or telephone bank to the general public, or any other form of general public political advertising).Communications over the Internet are not considered public communications, except for communications made in exchange for a fee on someone else's website, digital device, application, or advertising platform.
Communications over the Internet are discussed in the section Using a computer for political activities. An individual can help candidates and committees by offering personal services as a volunteer. For example, a volunteer may want to participate in an election campaign or offer skills to a political committee. Volunteer services are not considered contributions as long as no one pays the volunteer. If the services are compensated by someone other than the committee itself, the payment is considered that person's contribution to the committee.
Therefore, these payments may result in contributions or expenses. Other regulations related to coordinated communications and liability exemption requirements would also apply. See the previous section on public communications for more information. Presidential elections are subject to many of the same funding rules as House and Senate campaigns. For information on how to support a presidential candidate, see the information on this page about contributions, public communications, and volunteering.
Candidates nominated in the primary elections and candidates who submit nomination documents to other political parties will appear on the general election ballot. In Philadelphia, candidates vying for office must employ various strategies if they want to win an election. After months of careful planning, one famous doctor has recently begun to draw attention to his opponent's health problems. Holly Otterbein and Natalie Allison Oz's Democratic opponent, John Fetterman, suffered a stroke in May and has since avoided public events and debates. Instead, he has been actively engaging with voters on social media and running campaign ads. Oz has been attempting to consolidate support from conservative voters despite his endorsement from former President Donald Trump.
Until recently, Oz had not directly addressed Fetterman's health issues in his campaign. However, this week his team released two statements mocking Fetterman's diet and claiming he was too ill to participate in debates. Oz has also been reaching out to prominent conservative figures who were once detractors in an effort to unite them publicly around him. Republicans hope that this delay in support from influential conservative commentators will help him persuade disinterested Republican voters to return home with him. Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham has dedicated segments to criticizing Fetterman in an effort to increase support for Oz among the Republican base in Pennsylvania after openly criticizing Oz during the spring primary. Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro posted a seven-minute video on Sunday attacking Fetterman followed by a segment on his podcast this week doing the same.
And despite speaking ill of Oz as recently as last week, far-right personality Jack Posobiec has rapidly increased his attacks on Fetterman. Similar messages have arrived in recent days from other notable conservatives including Donald Trump Jr. At the same time, Oz's campaign has dramatically intensified its attacks on Fetterman including because of his health and his irregular appearances during the election campaign. Fetterman held his first rally since his stroke in Erie earlier this month and delivered a speech in Pittsburgh this week at the international headquarters of the United Steelworkers - his second official public event of the general election. He did not respond to questions from the media at either stop. Oz has challenged Fetterman to five debates but Fetterman's team has said they are willing to debate but not on Oz's terms and they haven't confirmed their attendance at anything specific. On Tuesday, Oz's campaign took it up a notch with spokeswoman Rachel Tripp saying “If John Fetterman had ever eaten a vegetable in his life maybe he wouldn't have had a serious stroke”.Conservative media widely distributed images of Fetterman's speech to union workers on Tuesday sometimes making awkward pauses and missing words even during a special Fox News segment on Wednesday morning.
An edited video showing several clips from the event has been viewed more than 1 million times on Twitter. However some Republican consultants wonder if it's a good strategy for Oz. Republican strategist Doug Heye said it's only right for Oz staff to highlight Fetterman's disappearance during the election campaign but their attempts to politicize his health this week need work. Joe Calvello spokesperson for Fetterman said that Tripp's comment about Oz vegetables was “extremely insensitive and frankly insane” and reported that “Dr. Oz literally doesn't know how to talk about the real issues that matter to Pennsylvanians”.Oz's campaign manager Casey Contres and campaign advisor Barney Keller said they called the moderators of the debates that Oz accessed on Monday and they all said they hadn't heard anything about Fetterman's campaign. The Oz team also said that there have been no behind-the-scenes conversations between them and influential conservative figures regarding support for Oz. In Philadelphia elections, candidates must use various strategies if they want to win. From paying for public communications to rallying support from influential conservative figures - candidates must employ multiple tactics if they want their campaigns to be successful.
