A Wish Granted

Democratic strategist Van Jones admitted that Harris had sought to appease “anti-Jewish bigots” (PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK / JAMIE LAMOR THOMPSON)

I greeted with immense relief Kamala Harris’s announcement that Minnesota governor Tim Walz would be her running mate, and not Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro. Pennsylvania is the biggest electoral prize of all the so-called battleground states, and Shapiro carried it by 15 points two years ago and continues to enjoy sky high approval ratings today. He could well have swung the state for Harris. (The latest polls show her leading in Pennsylvania anyway.)

Shapiro was clearly Harris’s choice until the very last moment, which is doubtless why she chose to launch her campaign in Philadelphia. And for the obvious reason: She wants to win.

But in the end, he was just a bit too Jewish and a bit too ardent in his love for the Jewish state for the progressive wing of the party — Kamala Harris’s home base — to stomach. He was also an outspoken critic of the outbreak of anti-Semitism at the University of Pennsylvania after October 7, likening the demonstrators at one point to the KKK.