Senator Fetterman is emerging as the leading voice among Democrats wrestling with how to handle President Trump. The Pennsylvanian is among the few urging his party to confront the reality of who Trump is and stop running against the caricatures they create of him.

On Sunday, Politico published a post-mortem on Vice President Harris’s campaign from Navigator Research, which describes itself as a “messaging and polling resource” for the left. “The problem isn’t just Kamala Harris or Joe Biden,” the outlet wrote.

Voters who backed Democrats in the past saw weakness in their 2024 message and were turned off by its heavy focus “on diversity and elites.” One person in the survey likened the party to an ostrich: “Heads in the sand … absolutely committed to their own ideas, even when they’re failing.”

On Sunday Mr. Fetterman told the host of ABC’s “This Week,” Jonathan Karl, that he has “been warning people” to address these flaws. “You gotta chill out’” about Trump, he said. “The constant, you know, freak out, it’s not helpful. So, you know, pack a lunch — pace yourself — because he hasn’t even taken office yet.”

While the loyal opposition always wants the opposite party’s policies to fail when they disagree with them, Mr. Fetterman said that he’s “not rooting against” Trump. “If you’re rooting against the president, you are rooting against the nation. And, and I’m not ever going to be where I want a president to fail.”

Mr. Fetterman said he puts “country first,” creeping up to the edge of Trump’s America First mantra. “It’s become maybe like a cliche,” the senator said, “but it happens to be truth.” His response signaled that he recognizes that Trump’s vision resonated to such an extent that it overcame his tremendous baggage.

Asked by Mr. Karl to identify “the single biggest factor behind Kamala Harris and the Democrats losing in November,” Mr. Fetterman didn’t flinch or resort to familiar Democratic insults against Trump and his supporters.

Mr. Fetterman said it’s “undeniable” that Trump is “a singular political talent” with “energy and almost a sense of fearlessness” to speak his mind. Noting there’s an “entertaining aspect” to that courage, the senator cited the candidate’s response to the July assassination attempt.

“After you survived an assassination,” Mr. Fetterman said, “you literally were shot in your head, and had the presence of mind to respond, you know, ‘Fight, fight, fight.’” This too was a “political talent,” he said, and Vice President Harris had erred by failing to recognize such realities.

Instead, Ms. Harris leaned on the negative, such as calling Trump a “fascist.” Mr. Fetterman said he “never believed that it was about fascism,” meaning the election. “It’s not a word that I would use. Because you put a lot of Democrats, especially in my state,” on par with that odious ideology.

These were voters that Mr. Fetterman says he knows. He said he “happen to love people” that voted for Trump, “and they are not fascists.” He added that “fascism” is also “not a word that regular people, you know, use.”

Mr. Fetterman said that people “decide who is the candidate that’s going to protect and project, you know, my version of the American way of life, and that’s what happened.” He went on to point out that many Democrats believed Ms. Harris would win Pennsylvania, again closing their eyes to reality on the ground.

The support Mr. Fetterman said is visible when “you spend time in Red County Pennsylvania … is astonishing.” He next alluded to Democrats allowing Trump to push their buttons, citing his nomination of Congressman Matt Gaetz for attorney general as “God-tier trolling … that was never serious.”

Mr. Fetterman said Trump’s Cabinet picks are “not going to be my first choice, second choice, third choice, but that’s democracy.” He called it “dangerous” for Democrats to “turn our back” on Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, if he’s confirmed.

Combined with his support of Israel, which is unpopular with the Democratic Party’s left wing, Mr. Fetterman is shaping up to be a replacement for Senator Manchin, who became an independent, and — in an interview with CNN on Sunday — called his former party’s brand “toxic” and advocated for a third party.

“Failure is not fatal,” the NCAA basketball coach, John Wooden, said, “but failure to change might be.” Mr. Fetterman is encouraging his party to adjust course, because while it’s a myth that ostriches bury their heads when they sense danger, it’s a truth that candidates lose when they fail to open their eyes.