This week Pennsylvania voters decide whether to give Dr. Oz a shot at the US Senate. To mark the occasion, Sean Rameswaram tries to understand what makes a celebrity candidate viable, from “the Gipper” to “the Governator” to “the Donald.”

This episode was reported and produced by Sean Rameswaram with an assist from Jon Ehrens, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, and engineered by Efim Shapiro.

Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained

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