This is WESA Politics, a weekly newsletter providing analysis about Pittsburgh and state politics. If you want it earlier — we'll deliver it to your inbox on Thursday afternoon — sign up here. Kiley Koscinski is filling in for Chris Potter this week.
Nothing about this current presidential election cycle has been typical, but it seems the old cliché “Democrats fall in love; Republicans fall in line,” coined by former President Bill Clinton remains true. Not long after Vice President Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, Democrats in rally crowds and TikTok feeds seem to have fallen in love with a man they’re referring to as “Midwestern Nice” and a “fun dad.”
But it’s harder than ever to romance every coalition that comprises the left. And that may have played a role in Harris’ selection, which surprised supporters of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro: Just a week ago, he was the odds-on favorite for the ticket.
Condemnation from progressives surrounding Shapiro’s support of Israel and private school vouchers, as well as his handling of sexual harassment complaints against a one-time staffer, reached a crescendo last week.
Some Democrats wrote that off as antisemitism, noting that Shapiro is an observant Jew. Some of his critics, however, argued that opposition to Israel’s actions in Gaza did not constitute antisemitic rhetoric — and that some protesters were themselves Jewish.
So did Shapiro’s responses to pro-Palestinian protesters factor into Harris’ decision?
For his part, Shapiro said the public debate included “concerted efforts that, in some cases, were rooted in antisemitism. That’s a reality of what I deal with regularly.” He stressed, however, that none of that “even entered the conversation” with Harris.
Still, some political analysts say it was certainly part of the calculus. Harris couldn’t afford to open herself up to a new line of attack, said Jeffrey Green, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
"A lot of the way [Shapiro’s] moderation and centrism reads in mid-2024 is connected to Israel [and] Palestine," Green told WESA. "So that might be moderation or non-progressiveness about an issue that Harris doesn't want to emphasize. It's not maybe the most salient issue for her success."
Shapiro has rebuked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his handling of the war in Gaza and has supported a two-state solution — a stance shared by many fellow Democrats. But he faced intense scrutiny from progressive critics after he compared some pro-Palestinian protesters to the Klu Klux Klan during an interview with CNN in April.
"We have to query whether or not we would tolerate this if this were people dressed up in KKK outfits or KKK regalia," he said. Shapiro chastised universities for failing to keep students safe when some protests led to antisemitic incidents and expressed support of a Pennsylvania bill that could cut off state funding to universities that divest from Israel.
In May, Spotlight PA reported Shapiro barred state employees from engaging in "scandalous or disgraceful behavior," which raised fear among pro-Palestinian and Muslim American groups. Their concern: They could be unfairly punished if they expressed opinions that differed from those of Shapiro.
Shapiro has said repeatedly that students and faculty have the right to protest peacefully and within the law. But he also called on elected officials to "step in and enforce the law" when things get out of hand.
“The role [Shapiro] played in breaking up some protests in Pennsylvania might also have created a kind of political risk for Harris that she wished to avoid,” Green said.
Shapiro’s stance put him at odds with some university leaders and elected officials. We saw that play out locally when University of Pittsburgh leaders called for an elevated police presence to disperse an encampment at the Cathedral of Learning. Instead, Mayor Ed Gainey and Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato opted for an hours-long conversation with encampment leaders to encourage them to leave on their own.
“When we as leaders can play a role to … de-escalate situations in a way that everybody gets to go home, that's what we should do,” Gainey said.
Gainey himself benefited from his ability to bring activists to the table in 2021 when he beat incumbent Mayor Bill Peduto in the Democratic primary. Gainey had appeared at several Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 and 2021 to speak in favor of police reform.
Former Mayor Bill Peduto advocated for police cultural change but was unable to come to terms with leaders of Pittsburgh’s Black Lives Matter movement. The relationship became so strained that several protests ended up on the lawn of Peduto’s home in Point Breeze.
A devolving relationship with Pittsburgh’s left-most progressive wing contributed to his primary loss to Gainey.
Shapiro’s centrist tendencies make it hard to balance support for law and order with support for First Amendment rights, according to Chris Borick, political science professor and director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion.
“You're going to get hit from the right if you allow things to seem appear like they're devolving and from the left and those interested in civil liberties if you try to close things down,” Borick said, adding that a candidate’s religious, racial or other identity could also factor into how actions are appraised.
On the other hand, progressives seem optimistic about Walz shifting closer to their side when it comes to Gaza.
IfNotNow, an American Jewish group which opposes U.S. support for Israel, praised the selection of Walz Tuesday, calling it an “opportunity to demonstrate the kind of progressive leadership that we desperately need.”
“No candidate is perfect, and Walz is no exception,” spokesperson Eva Borgwardt said in a statement shortly after Harris announced her running mate. The group pointed to Walz’a past attendance at conferences held by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — a pro-Israel lobbying group — as one of its concerns.
But Borgwardt said the group was “encouraged by [Walz’s] unequivocal defense of the Uncommitted Movement,” which organized voters to cast protest votes in the primary against Biden’s policies in the Middle East. In Minnesota, ballots cast for the uncommitted vote captured 19% of Democratic primary voters.
Still, as college students return to campus this month, demonstrations could soon follow. Whether Harris and Walz will be able to keep voters swooning remains to be seen.
“This scenario is not going to go away for Democrats,” Borick said. “They’re going to have to keep trying to calibrate how they respond.”
