Kamala Harris skipped picking Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro due to his religion. The progressive base would have launched a jihad if the rising Democratic star was selected, but there are other reasons—all of them ridiculous. In short, Harris pulled a Hillary Clinton, picking someone who would never outshine her. It’s an absurd notion: a state representative from ‘nowhereville’ could outshine Harris, who is queen of being unremarkable. Say what you will about Hillary Clinton, but she had a presidential resume. She was a trainwreck on policy, and like the former first lady and two-time presidential loser, Harris decided to rip a page from her failed 2016 playbook and picked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (via NY Post):
This is Tim Kaine all over again. Hillary was terrified of being overshadowed, so she picked the most conventional, boring guy she could find. It ended up being a mistake.
— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) August 6, 2024
Kamala has done the same thing, except her guy—Tim Walz—is also extremely left wing!
Political consultant Hank Sheinkopf told The Post that Shapiro was too hot to pick as Harris’ running mate because of his pro-Israel record, and that Waltz was a safer choice.
“The ticket would have been too pro-Israel. Harris doesn’t need a battle over Israel-Gaza,” said Sheinkopf, who worked on Bill Clinton’s re-election campaign.
[…]
But another Democratic operative who spoke with The Post dismissed the notion of anti-Israel sentiment playing a role.
“I think if the flak he’d taken regarding Israel had been a stronger consideration, he wouldn’t have made it this far at all,” the operative said of Shapiro.
[…]
“My honest sense is that Harris had a concern that Shapiro would overshadow her and be the spotlight of the ticket here,” the operative said, confirming earlier reports of the younger Democrat’s ability to upstage some of his party’s national leaders.
“What this pick came down to was, more or less, vibes,” the operative added, describing Walz’s as a “Midwestern do-no-harm vibe.”
Shapiro was passed over three days after a puzzling video already describing him as Harris’ No. 2 leaked online from the X account of Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) also reached out to Harris’ camp and shared his concerns about Shapiro, not having anything to do with this faith—Fetterman is one of the most vocal pro-Israel lawmakers on the Hill—but his personal ambitions (via Politico):
Two sources confirm on background the deciding factor in the VP’s choice was what Sen Fetterman said publicly: concerns Shapiro’s his own personal ambitions would cause him to upstage/override Harris. The video Shapiro produced by Philly Mayor Cherelle Parker’s team solidified…
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) August 6, 2024
Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman is concerned about the possibility that Vice President Kamala Harris might choose his state’s governor, Josh Shapiro, as her running mate, and his advisers have privately relayed those worries to Harris’ team, according to three people familiar with the conversations.
Fetterman’s advisers suggested to Harris’ team that the senator believes that Shapiro is excessively focused on his own personal ambitions. His reservations about Shapiro reflect a long-running rivalry between the two ambitious Democrats, who have risen on parallel tracks in a politically crucial state.
For Fetterman’s representatives to reveal his concerns to the party’s new standard-bearer’s team underscores the intense scrutiny being applied to possible running mates — and the high stakes of a decision that has the potential to shape the Democratic Party for years to come.
The leaked video posted by Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, where it was heavily insinuated that Shapiro would be the VP pick, confirmed the warnings offered by Fetterman to Harris’ people. Yet, Shapiro’s folks claim they knew nothing about the hype video. Yet, Politico added that Shapiro’s interview didn’t go well either:
Why not Shapiro? By contrast, Pennsylvania Gov. JOSH SHAPIRO’s team felt that his own interview with Harris did not go as well as it could have. There was “not a great feeling” coming out of it, according to a person in touch with Shapiro’s advisers. A person familiar with the selection process told our colleagues that, after their meeting on Sunday, Shapiro called Harris’ team and made clear that he was “struggling with the decision to leave his current job as governor, in order to seek the vice presidency.”
That applies to many rising Democrats living in governor’s mansions. They’re already looking at 2028, viewing this cycle as lost since Biden dropped out and the chaos that’s followed. Harris is no gold standard either and eminently beatable. She’s not scary, but the loud noise pumped in, thanks to the liberal media, has buoyed her candidacy to insane heights. It’s an inflated stock that’s about to crash. No one wants to get sinched when that happens.
UPDATE: There's one last-minute leak: Harris' camp felt Shapiro couldn't deliver Pennsylvania.
Meanwhile, Josh Shapiro was seen as not someone who could deliver the state of Pennsylvania based on internal polling. The source also said Harris’ team was unconvinced that any one person could guaranteed any of the battleground states for the ticket.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) August 7, 2024