Also worth mentioning that anyone who had been following Fetterman's recovery didn't see his performance in the debate as a snapshot but rather a positive trend on his road to recovery. I remember his first interview after the stroke, I was concerned; it was clear he wasn't really listening. But every subsequent interview he seemed a bit more comfortable in his own skin and was adapting. Eventually it became known that he was struggling with auditory processing and then it all made sense.

Was he great in the debate? No. But he was better than he had been in the interviews leading up to it and the trend was promising. Then add on top of that the (lack of) favorability of Oz as the article points out... and then add on top of that how Fetterman made it a slogan about getting knocked down and standing back up... cue Chumbawamba (They Might Be Giants cover of Tubthumping).