Josh Shapiro, a 51-year-old father of four, enjoys historically high approval ratings, including support from Republicans, but rumors that he will become Kamala Harris’ running mate have sparked alarm among more Democrats. progressives.
Shapiro is a rising star in the Democratic Party and his popularity as governor of Pennsylvania is crucial to Harris’ presidential candidacy: the oscillating state 19 electoral votes make it a must-win. In 2020, it was the Pennsylvania declaration that confirmed Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump.
Shapiro would also increase the historical significance of the Democratic nomination: He would be the country’s first Jewish vice president, while Harris seeks to become the first woman (and the first Black and South Asian American woman) elected president of the United States.
Obama’s progressive support and the controversy over Israel
In 2007, Shapiro broke with much of the Democratic establishment to endorse a first-term senator from Illinois for president. Barack Obama.
After Obama won the White House, the couple stayed in touch. During Shapiro’s run for attorney general in 2016, Obama took the unusual step of weighing in with an endorsement, saying he “represents a new generation of progressive leadership.”
But it’s Shapiro’s strong support for Israel that could alienate some progressive voters.
Pro-Palestinian activists say they particularly take issue with a recently resurfaced op-ed from Shapiro’s college years at the University of Rochester in which he predicted that “peace will never come” to the Middle East and described the Palestinians as “with battle mentality.” “
Shapiro has since told reporters that he no longer feels that way, noting his young age at the time he wrote the article.
“I was 20 years old,” he said. “I have said for years, years before October 7, that I am in favor of a two state solution – Israelis and Palestinians live peacefully side by side, being able to determine their own future and their own destiny.”
He has since criticized the Israeli Prime Minister. Benjamin Netanyahu for the bombing of Loop – called him “a dangerous and destructive force” and “one of the worst leaders of all time” – but has insisted that Israel has the right to self-defense.
Shapiro has also received criticism for the way he responded to protests that broke out on college campuses across the United States over the war in Gaza. In April, speaking to CNN, he mentioned the Klu Klux Klan in the same breath as anti-war activists: He said that “people dressed in KKK outfits or wearing KKK insignia” would not be tolerated on campuses, so he also anti-Semitism should be opposed.
But this approach could appeal to moderate voters and weaken Republican efforts to change the situation. War between Israel and Hamas in a divisive issue for Democrats.
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‘Surprising setback on climate issues’
Beyond this, environmental groups have criticized Shapiro for going from being tough on fracking to “courting” oil and gas companies, something he denies.
Since becoming governor of Pennsylvania in 2023, he has “radically changed his environmental policy priorities and begun courting fossil fuel companies,” Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania wrote, citing his “surprising turnaround on climate issues.”
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Addressing Ms. Harris in an open letter this week, about 50 leaders of national progressive groups said: “With the compressed timeline ahead of us to defeat the Trump-Vance-MAGA threat, we simply cannot afford any setbacks.”
And while they said Shapiro was a “valued member of the democratic coalition,” they added that he “has made too many controversial policy decisions on issues like school choice and the environment to be the voice of consensus our nation needs right now.” .
Shapiro praised Corey Comperatore, who was killed in the shooting at a Donald Trump rally, for lunging at his family to protect them from bullets.
Outside of politics, Shapiro met his wife Lori in ninth grade. They dated in high school and reconnected after college before he proposed to her in Jerusalem. He and his family are practicing conservative Jews who keep kosher.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
