This is addressed to the people who remain in a state of shock after Pennsylvania voters chose John Fetterman to represent them in the U.S. Senate come January.

Many have said that the reason Fetterman won is that Pennsylvanians did not like the “inauthenticity” of his opponent, Mehmet Oz. The Fetterman campaign successfully painted the cardiologist and television star as an elite carpet bagger who had a rich vocabulary.

I mean, no Pennsylvanian is smart enough to use the word “crudites” west of the Susquehanna, right?

But upon further reflection, I realized that this was just a symptom and not the true motivation for voters who would choose the former mayor of Braddock over Oz. Authenticity is nice, hoodies are cool, tattoos are like, even cooler, and having a shaved head makes you look just like that guy who hangs out in the beverage section at Sheetz while his Harley is being gassed up.

I was also told that abortion was the big issue in this election, and that is definitely true. In fact, it’s much more likely that those white suburban women called “roaches” by “The View’s” Sunny Hostin voted for the guy who said he’d fight for their right to abort their babies at pretty much any stage in the pregnancy, than that they appreciated his resemblance to a member of the Pagan motorcycle gang.

Abortion became the big draw for the triggered Madam Ovaries across the nation, and Pennsylvania was no exception.

Indeed, the hysteria after Justice Samuel Alito stated the obvious fact that there was no “right” to abortion in the U.S. Constitution was apocalyptic in scope and nature. I remember feeling triggered myself, just hearing them scream about handmaids and forced birth.

I went through menopause a few years ago, and even I was convinced that some government official was going to forcibly impregnate me. There was an entire week, in fact, that I was afraid the Angel Gabriel was going to show up at my window, accompanied by Justice Alito.

And if you don’t get that, don’t worry, it’s an inside Catholic joke.

Many women across the state, but particularly in southeastern Pennsylvania and out by Pittsburgh, were convinced that we had lost our rights.

But even after all that, even after considering that the women were so obsessed with their own reproductive autonomy and couldn’t see the forest for their uteri, it dawned on me that abortion wasn’t even the primary motivation for the decision to elect a man who cannot speak clearly and is still in the early stages of rehab, a man who has never owned his own home, a man who depends on his parents to put food on the table for his children, a man who held a shotgun to an innocent Black man, a man who wanted the murderer of my friend’s father released from jail for “compassionate reasons,” a man who supports the legalization of drugs (at least some of them) and a man who hates Republicans.

The real reason that Fetterman was elected over a competent, well-educated surgeon who saves lives instead of seeking the release of those who took them in the most brutal manner, is because more people hated us than liked Oz.

Let me put it another way: The reason that Fetterman was elected to the U.S. Senate is that his supporters cast a vengeance vote. There was nothing appealing, nothing inspiring, nothing admirable in this man who will now represent 50% of our senatorial presence in D.C.

There was nothing noteworthy, particularly commendable or even redemptive about him. The thing that Fetterman harnessed better than anyone else could was the anger, the hatred and the resentment that Democrats have harbored since Donald Trump was elected president of the United States six years ago.

It has festered, and it has corroded the innards of every progressive and even every center-left liberal for a very long time, and this was their opportunity to exact that pound of flesh at the ballot box. Simple as that.

The truth is that we now have a senator who was elected out of hatred and anger, misogyny towards conservative women, disregard for victims of crime, and a sense of gotcha.

Well, they got us, that’s for sure. And they should be prepared for what happens in 2024. Elephants have long memories.

Christine Flowers is an attorney and a columnist for the Delaware County Daily Times, and can be reached at cflowers1961@gmail.com