'Deeply personal decision': Calls for Harris to pick Pa. Gov. Shapiro ...

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With President Biden stepping out of the race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, the nation is now speculating over potential VP picks. One name on the shortlist: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

“It’s a no-brainer,” Bob Brady, Chair of the Philadelphia Democratic Party, told WHYY News. “Everyone says that the road to victory goes through Pennsylvania, so why not go with the person who can ensure that victory?”

Pa. Democrats spent much of Monday morning in deep discussion around the weekend’s events, seeking consensus on Vice President Kamala Harris as Pennsylvania’s nominee for president. However, multiple sources — including Brady — said that the subject of Shapiro was also a hot topic of conversation.

“There was no endorsement made, but everyone on the call was in agreement that it would help the ticket tremendously in Pennsylvania,” said Brady, who attended the meetings held by the state party committee, county party chairs, and Pa. delegates to next month’s Democratic National Convention (DNC).

Brady said he plans to bring up the issue directly with Harris.

Daniel P. Bauder, president of the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO and a DNC delegate, confirmed that the delegates are broadly in agreement about the governor.

“It makes a lot of sense,” he said. “Just looking at it very objectively, you’ve got a very popular governor in a swing state who’s got tremendous favorability across the board politically, who’s got a lot of labor support. He is a tremendous campaigner, somebody who’s tireless in the way that he pursues an objective, both like an electoral goal, but even a policy one. And so objectively, I think the Governor Shapiro has to be the top of everyone’s list.”

Shapiro is not responding to questions about whether he would accept the offer if it was presented. He confirmed that he spoke with Vice President Harris Sunday, but the conversation centered on “how we beat Donald Trump and protect our freedoms here in this commonwealth.”

“I’m not going to engage in hypotheticals,” he told reporters at a press conference in Pittsburgh Monday. “This is a deeply personal decision that the vice president will make. She will make it on her own timetable and her own timeline. She needs to choose someone that she’s prepared to govern with, campaign with, and someone that she feels most comfortable with and that decision should be made free of any sort of political pressure.”

But that hasn’t stopped Pennsylvania Democrats from making their case.

Shapiro has been the governor for less than two years, but in that short time, he has been tested by a series of crises that garnered him national attention. Just a month after taking office last January 2023, a train derailment in bordering East Palestine, Ohio, forced the evacuation of thousands of Pennsylvanians. Last June, a heavily trafficked segment of I-95 in Philadelphia collapsed but was repaired in less than two weeks. Most recently, he was lauded for his response to the shooting in Butler.

Shapiro also has a reputation as a skilled and pragmatic legislator willing to compromise when necessary. He is one of the most popular politicians among Pennsylvania voters, with a favorability rating of up to 60%.

“He’s one of the most liked governors of all time, and his policies are pretty down the middle,” State Rep. Danilo Burgos of North Philly told WHYY News. “And that’s what Americans are calling for, is to make America the leader that it once was.”

While Republicans say they believe Donald Trump will beat Harris regardless of who she picks as VP, many still express respect for the governor.

“Josh is a very talented, smart politician and a longtime friend,” RNC delegate Jeff Bartos of Montgomery County told WHYY News. “But no matter who they put on the ticket, the Democrats are going to have the Biden-Harris agendas. They’re going to have to answer for that, whether it’s inflation, whether it’s the border crisis, whether it’s crime, whether it’s war on energy … There’s just no way for the Democrats to win Pennsylvania.”