Could Josh Shapiro Help—or Hurt—Kamala Harris?

Kamala Harris is widely expected to name Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro her vice presidential pick at a Tuesday rally in Philadelphia. If that happens—and Polymarket has it as a 66 percent possibility—it won’t be much of a surprise. The Harris-Shapiro ticket was announced on X Friday by Philadelphia mayor Cherelle Parker in what may have been a strategic leak. 

There are many good reasons for Harris to choose Shapiro over other candidates, such as Kentucky governor Andy Beshear, Arizona senator Mark Kelly, and Minnesota governor Tim Walz. He is a popular governor in possibly the most important battleground state in the country. Joe Biden, who was born in the Keystone State, only squeaked out a win here against Trump in 2020, helping him clinch the Electoral College. A Fox News poll last month found Shapiro has a 61 percent favorability rating in Pennsylvania. 

Shapiro is also a political talent. With poise, oratory skills, and relative youth (he’s 51), he could be a Jewish version of the 44th president—a Baruch Obama, if you will. You can see the echoes of Obama in his throaty stage whispers, folksy demeanor, and ease with which he connects to non–college-educated voters who have fled the party for Donald Trump’s GOP. One of his first acts as governor was to remove the college degree requirement for thousands of state government jobs. 

So far, so good.

But Shapiro is also a longtime Israel supporter who once volunteered in a non-military role for the IDF. He has been outspoken about the pro-Palestinian protests that have roiled campuses since Hamas invaded the Jewish state, killing 1,200 on October 7. After three college presidents gave disastrous congressional testimony about the antisemitism on their campuses, he condemned the University of Pennsylvania’s Liz Magill for her “failure of leadership.” 

In normal times, this would all be to Shapiro’s advantage—especially when paired with Harris’s leftist leanings on the topic. But these aren’t normal times, and Shapiro’s candor is a handicap for the Democrats, as some of the party’s left wing have become vocal activists against Israel’s war in Gaza. Last month, Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan protested Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before Congress by holding up a sign calling him a “war criminal.” 

On Friday, an op-ed Shapiro wrote when he was a 20-year-old junior at the University of Rochester surfaced, causing discomfort for the governor. In it, he argued that Palestinians were “too battle-minded” to accept a two-state solution in Israel, adding that they “will not coexist peacefully.” At a rally, Shapiro said his views had since evolved. 

But that wasn’t good enough for former MSNBC presenter Mehdi Hassan, who spoke for many left-wing Dems when he posted on X: “The idea that Harris would undermine all the momentum she’s built up with younger, progressive, non-white voters, by picking the guy who compared antiwar students to the KKK & volunteered on an Israeli military base, while Walz, Beshear & Prizker [sic] are right there, is insane to me.” (Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker has also been mentioned as a possible Harris running mate.) 

Still, choosing Shapiro as her veep would give Harris a chance to score big political points, given that her own views on Israel have been all over the map. “If she picks him, it gives her an opportunity to show that she is not beholden to the progressive extreme left and she stands up for moderates in the party,” said Abe Foxman, former national director of the Anti-Defamation League. “And she has the guts to stand up for someone who is being attacked.” According to a Pew survey from March, 58 percent of Americans believe Israel had valid reasons for fighting the war in Gaza. 

Bottom line: Harris may end up losing some of the fringe voters with Shapiro, but she stands to gain the support of Americans who don’t trust a political party that includes flag burners and antisemites.

Eli Lake is a Free Press columnist. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @EliLake. Read his Free Press piece, “President Biden: Stand Up for the Venezuelan People.”

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