Jamie Dettmer
Politico, Aug. 12, 2024
“As Jewish Democrats, it’s tough to wrap our heads around the idea that everyone thought Shapiro was the strongest pick and he lost out. There was an unprecedented campaign against him by the far left, including many who aren’t even Democrats, to smear him because he’s an observant Jew.”
Pennsylvania’s charismatic and eloquent Governor Josh Shapiro appears to harbor no ill will for having lost out to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as the running mate of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
He’d been seen as the most likely to be tapped for the job up until the final moment. But swallowing whatever disappointment he felt, Shapiro stepped forward as a team player, delivering a rousing introduction at a raucous rally in Philadelphia last week. “Walz is a great man,” he said. And in turn, both Harris and Walz went out of their way to praise him. “Pennsylvania, I know that you know this, but my God what a treasure you have in Josh Shapiro,” Walz remarked.
Nonetheless — and rather predictably — the second-guessing over Harris’s choice began in earnest immediately after the announcement. Had Shapiro been skipped over because of his Jewish origins and/or strong backing of Israel? Predictably, former U.S. President Donald Trump quickly sought to characterize Harris’s decision as an exercise in antisemitism. “It was because of the fact that he’s Jewish,” he openly said during a Fox TV interview. Trump’s accusation is, of course, absurd — Harris is married to Jewish businessman Doug Emhoff. But for Trump, facts are never allowed to get in the way of a good mischievous tale.…. [To read the full article, click here.]