Democrats running in marquee Senate races are going full jam-band in the homestretch of the 2022 midterm races, turning to musician Dave Matthews to jazz up his devoted fans and get them and others marching to the polls.
Mr. Matthews plans to tour another political hotspot Wednesday when he parachutes into Pennsylvania to headline a get-out-the-vote rally for Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in his hard-fought U.S. Senate race against Republican Mehmet Oz.
“I can promise you don’t want to miss this,” Mr. Fetterman told his supporters.
Mr. Matthews will be fresh off hitting the stage this week in North Carolina and Ohio, where he sought, respectively, to boost the Senate campaigns of Democratic hopefuls Cheri Beasley and Tim Ryan.
The races in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and North Carolina — the Democrats’ only plausible hopes of picking up Republican-held seats — will go a long way in determining whether their slim Senate majority will crash.
“Please try and remember when election day comes or before whenever you can please try and remember to try and put decent people into our government — decent people like Tim Ryan,” Mr. Matthews said at the end of his set in Columbus, where he played in front of a massive American flag and a “Tim Ryan Workers First” campaign sign.
Over the course of the show, Mr. Matthews had so much to say, sharing the story of how his grandfather purchased him a pack of smokes on his 18th birthday, urging the audience to take care of the planet before it was “too late,” and talking about how the bags under his eyes were a result of drinking too much whiskey the day before.
Democrats have made the most of their connections to the world of music and Hollywood. President Biden recently honored Elton John at the White House with the National Humanities Medal and tapped James Taylor to perform a special show in the Rose Garden to help celebrate the recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Republicans, meanwhile, in the past have leaned on the likes of Kid Rock to fire up their party faithful.
Mr. Matthews’ appearance Wednesday with Mr. Fetterman will come the day after the Democrat’s first — and only scheduled — debate with Mr. Oz, who has been gaining in the polls.
The highly anticipated affair offered voters a late-in-the-game opportunity to gauge the Democrat’s health months after he suffered a stroke that has largely kept him off the campaign trail and live TV.
The health scare has left Mr. Fetterman with “symptoms of an auditory processing disorder which can come across as hearing difficulty,” according to his physician, who maintains the Democrat is still fit to carry out the duties of elected office.
“His hearing of sound such as music is not affected,” his physician said.
The Fetterman rally Wednesday is set to take place at an entertainment complex in Pittsburgh.
“This is the most important election in the country, and I am honored to have Dave Matthews joining us in Pittsburgh for a rally to kick off our get-out-the-vote efforts,” Mr. Fetterman said in a statement. “We’re excited to have Dave perform for all of our fans in Pittsburgh to thank everyone for their hard work to get to this point, and emphasize the stakes of this race for people across Pennsylvania.”
