By Jeffrey A. Rendall
Can Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman be prodded into coming over from the Dark Side?
What does it take to be… a Republican?
It’s a question on the minds of a lot of folks in 2026, as the Grand Old Party, under the guidance of President Donald J. Trump, has morphed into a bit of a political anomaly. No longer grounded on conservative principles to guide it, the party has pretty much become whatever Trump wants it to be.
Republicans still support lower taxes, a light regulatory burden and a strong military, but the lid’s been blown off the federal treasury and there are few ardent advocates for reining-in spending any longer.
Most Republicans back what Trump is doing, however, as the president has made earnest attempts to bring in more revenue (through tariffs) as well as uncover and expose the vast amount of waste and fraud that’s persisted for decades in the bureaucracy. Trump has also taken on the Democrats’ “woke” social agenda and not backtracked one inch.
The New Yorker’s also appointed a Supreme Court majority that’s mostly returned the judiciary to its originalist roots. All good things. Bring it on.
It took elevating a man like Trump to do something about problems that other politicians cowered away from, such as closing the nation’s borders to illegal immigration. Take the good with the bad.
Trump has accomplished it all with little or no help from Democrats, the “bipartisan” myth having evaporated the moment senile Joe Biden doddered away from the White House. With one exception, Democrats have been as standoffish and arrogant as never before.
Can a Democrat known for his reasonable governing approach be persuaded to switch sides?
In an article titled, “Inside the Quiet Republican Effort to Flip Fetterman”, Jonathan Martin wrote at Politico recently:
“Delivering Fetterman would be a coup for both GOP senators, particularly if the Pennsylvanian is the deciding vote for Republicans to hold power. McCormick and Britt are both ambitious, talented and young enough to have a future either in their conference leadership or on their party’s presidential ticket.
“Some Republicans believe Fetterman is unlikely to make the complete party switch. The more likely prospect, they say, is that Fetterman becomes an independent who caucuses with the GOP, or simply casts his vote to ensure Thune remains majority leader. Ensuring Republican control of the Senate floor could be especially critical should there be a Supreme Court vacancy in Trump’s final two years.
“That, also, may mark the end of Fetterman’s tenure. He won’t say if he’ll even seek re-election in 2028. He dodges the question whenever he’s asked.”
Can you blame him? Fetterman is just being himself and advocating for what he believes in, yet every time a reporter draws near, the only thing he’s ever asked is whether he intends to maintain his contrarian (to “Chucky” Schumer) stance in his own party or if he’ll eventually give-in and gravitate to the Republican side.
Prior to reading Martin’s report, I was unaware of just how close Senator John has become with his Republican counterparts, frequently attending GOP meetings and disdaining Democrats-only gatherings. It’s been common knowledge that Fetterman departed from the Democrat-line during the government shutdowns, and, more currently, indicated that he supports finishing the Trump ballroom for security purposes.
In other words, Fetterman appears to have fits of what most people regard as common sense, but this concept is foreign to Democrats in today’s leftist hate-Trump-all-the-time mindset. Merely agreeing with Trump in a few areas has earned the Pennsylvanian nothing but suspicion and angry critiques, the gap between the factions having grown so large that Democrats aren’t permitted to ever speak kindly about the duly elected president.
Trump has been so successful in defying the Washington DC Uniparty establishment that the swamp creatures can’t tolerate even the slightest defection from the Democrat party line.
Fetterman isn’t perfect, however. He was against the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and, during the back-and-forth earlier this year on whether then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem should be fired, the 6’8” Keystone State giant wasn’t equivocal in his advocacy for her to be tossed on the trash heap of disgraced former Trump cabinet servants.
Therefore, if Fetterman were truly a Trump-guy now, one would expect him to alter his positions depending on the circumstances. But John, at least by appearances, is as “independent” as lawmakers get these days.
Republicans do have a few consistent turncoats in their caucus, but these are pols who campaigned on adhering to Republican principles and since defied party leaders for… purely political reasons. We know who they are – Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, North Carolina’s Thom Tillis, the always un-dependable Mitch McConnell and Maine’s Susan Collins. Republicans may hold 53 seats in the Senate, yet a majority on important matters is never a guarantee by any means.
President Trump understands this, as do most conservatives who’ve studied human nature and politicians. The outcasts bill themselves as “mavericks” or “independent thinkers” like Fetterman, but they’re really just serial liars and spineless ninnies who crave establishment media attention.
Maine’s Collins gets somewhat of a pass. She’s a wishy-washy Republican from basically a blue state, so she needs to do what she has to do to remain politically viable. We get it. As for the rest… what’s their excuse?
By the same token, Fetterman doesn’t compare to infamous Republican party-switchers from this century. Jumpin’ Jim Jeffords swung the senate majority after being freshly reelected from Vermont in 2000. And Pennsylvania’s Arlen Specter, no forthright conservative himself, took his carcass over to the Democrats just in time to nearly push Obamacare over the finish line in 2009.
These moves had verifiable real-life effects.
Fetterman insists he’s not going anywhere despite intense efforts by his GOP friends and colleagues to coax him to migrate to more welcoming territory. One tends to believe him, since Senator John probably has little to gain from such an action. President Trump, who hosted Fetterman at Mar-a-Lago after his 2024 victory, has befriended the casual dressing straight-shooter. Trump promised support for Fetterman if he eventually makes a party swap official.
But Senator John isn’t really a Republican in the pure sense of the concept. Fetterman still votes with Democrats over 90 percent of the time. If “Chucky” wants backing to oppose a Republican legislative action, he’s got a better chance of securing Fetterman’s backing than the GOP’s John Thune does to bring Lisa Murkowski or Thom Tillis in to shore-up support for a MAGA initiative.
It’s been my experience that conservatives and Republicans respect Fetterman, even if they don’t agree with his liberal leanings. What you see is what you get from John, and it’s better to have an honest adversary than a “friend” who wouldn’t know the truth if it waltzed up to him or her and kicked them in the Kiester.
I’ve occasionally wondered if I could support a Fetterman reelection effort. The honest answer is no, because almost all Republicans would be an improvement over any Democrat these days. But the Pennsylvanian is someone I could see being friends with, which is a step up from most left-siders in today’s reality.
In Virginia, where I live, there are no “moderate” Democrats like John Fetterman. And we Virginians have one of the worst governors (Abigail Spanberger) and the worst Attorney General (Jay Jones) in the nation. This year’s legislative session spawned a plethora of bad proposals, and many of them passed into law.
All of this makes John Fetterman an intriguing figure in today’s political culture. Fetterman acts more like an “old” Democrat with a penchant for voting with today’s socialist party members. The pro-Israel Fetterman wasn’t about to turn his back on his beliefs just because his party has adopted a preference for shielding Islamists.
If I had to bet, I would put money on Fetterman remaining a Democrat and continuing to act as a thorn in “Chucky” Schumer’s side whenever a common sense issue is up for debate. Senator John will continue to make himself available for Fox News appearances and answer questions with honesty and candor, which places him in the 99th percentile of semi-sane Democrats who can be worked with.
Fetterman will probably never learn what it takes to be a Republican, but he might just be in position to use his influence to improve the public discourse while he’s open to serving. Democrats could very well try to edge him out, not because he votes against them, but because he doesn’t hate Trump. That’s more than enough to get you banished from Democrat-land these days.
Jeff Rendall is editor and publisher of GolfintheUSA.com and has written about golf and politics for over a quarter of a century. A non-practicing attorney from California, he moved to the east coast three decades ago to pursue and combine his interests in all things American history and culture. Jeff has worked as an intern on Capitol Hill and in various capacities in grassroots organizing and conservative organizations and publications, including a nearly two-decade stint at ConservativeHQ.com. Column republishing or other inquiries: Rendall@msn.com .