As the old song goes, “When an irresistible force meets an immovable object, something’s got to give.”

In a way, this is along the lines of what’s going on in the contest to see which Republican will emerge from the political dust-up for U.S. Senate to likely do battle with one the Democratic front-runners, either Lt. Gov. John Fetterman or U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb. Now, Fetterman is leading in the polls.

The two GOP leading candidates also happen to be the wealthiest, and when they filed their latest financial reports earlier this month, we learned that they have spent $18 million between them from their own personal fortunes, and this doesn’t include all that is being spent on their behalf by political action committees and Super PACs.

Since the job of U.S. Senator pays $174,000 annually, we can conclude that neither is after the job because of the money. I assure you that it is all about power, prestige and political pull, along with what they will tell us is their desire to serve the residents of Pennsylvania, even though both of them have only recently become residents.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, who has been anointed by former President Donald Trump as his choice for the nomination, lived in New Jersey until about a year ago, while David McCormick served as the CEO of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world’s largest hedge funds, from 2020 to 2022, lived in Connecticut.

The rest of the large Republican field is being left in the dust as these two top front-runners flood the airwaves with commercials. All the while, some PAC spending includes commercials bashing both candidates for their alleged deficiencies to be the Republican standard-bearer.

The two candidates and their supporters have spent nearly $35 million on TV, with much more ordered for the coming weeks leading up to the May 17 primaries. (May I hear a collective groan?)

Then there are the Super PACs, which can accept donations beyond the federal donation limits to candidates, but by law they can’t coordinate with the candidates’ campaigns.

Celebrity surgeon Dr. Oz has donated $11 million to his campaign since announcing his candidacy last November. His recently filed net worth report lists it at between $104 million and $422 million. (Senate forms require candidates to file only broad ranges of assets and debts.) Oz lists his debts at between $8 million and $36 million.

When he announced his intention to run for the seat now held by Republican Pat Toomey of Lehigh County, Oz listed his in-laws’ residence as his. Since then, he bought a home in Montgomery County for $3.1 million, but he and his wife are still living with his in-laws while their home is being renovated.

McCormick was born in the Pittsburgh area, but he had been living in Connecticut right up until the time that he decided to run for Senate. In his TV ads, some of which were filmed at his Pennsylvania ranch, McCormick portrays himself as a Pennsylvanian who hunts with the guys, bales hay and knocks back a pint now and again. And, oh yes, he and his wife peg their net worth at between $116 million and $290 million. His recent disclosure statement also notes his $22.5 million salary last year as CEO of Bridgewater. McCormick has put $7 million of his own money into his campaign so far.

As you might expect, with Oz and McCormick getting so much attention, it has been difficult for the other GOP candidates to get anything going. They are conservative commentator Kathy Barnette, who lost the congressional race to Madeleine Dean in southeastern Pennsylvania two years ago; real estate developer Jeff Bartos, the unsuccessful candidate for lieutenant governor in 2018, and Carla Sands, who formerly led a major real estate firm and was Trump’s ambassador to Denmark.

Donations to Barnette’s campaign are a distant third to front-runners Oz and McCormick, at $346,000; then come Bartos, $118,000; and Sands, $103,000.

Although our Founding Fathers theorized that public office at the federal level would be within the reach of many of our citizens, when you see these eye-popping numbers, we wonder whether our forebears’ vision was something less than 20-20.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.