Some activists step up criticism of Shapiro and Kelly as Harris closes in on naming a running mate
WASHINGTON — Democrats have united behind Vice President with remarkable speed Kamala Harris since she has taken over the leadership at the top of the party ticket on the way to the Presidential elections in November.
It can be a different story when it comes to a running mate.
As governor of Pennsylvania. Josh Shapiro and senator from Arizona. Mark Kelly have both emerged as potential finalists, but both have drawn criticism from some organizations and activists who might otherwise support the Democratic cause.
Harris’ team says she has a job interview six possible choices over the weekend for an announcement expected on Monday. The following day, she and her running mate will appear together at a meeting in Philadelphia, then we visit six more swing states.
In addition to Shapiro and Kelly, Harris is also reportedly considering running for governor of Minnesota. Tim WalzGovernor of Illinois. JB Pritzker and governor. Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg
Some congressional Democrats have promoted Kelly, a former Navy pilot and astronaut whose state borders Mexico by more than 370 miles. They say his selection could help attack the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trumpwho argues that the Biden administration’s immigration policies are too lenient.
Shapiro also has prominent supporters, including Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker. She caused a stir by posting a video on Friday in which several Philadelphia officials and Democrats promoted Harris but also listed Shapiro as her running mate — suggesting the mayor had inside knowledge of Harris’ decision.
But a person with knowledge of the mayor’s thinking said the video was simply a case of Parker expressing support for both Harris and the possibility of Shapiro, Parker’s friend, becoming the vice presidential nominee. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Both Kelly and Shapiro noticed their opponents becoming louder as Harris got closer to a decision.
While that may not ultimately convince Harris, it is an indication that the vice president’s honeymoon period, during which the various wings of the Democratic Party rallied behind her, may be over in the less than two weeks since President Joe Biden abandoned his reelection campaign and endorsed her.
Some unions have criticized Kelly for opposing proposed legislation that they say would encourage union organizing. Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers, said that despite his support for Harris for president, his 370,000-member union does not endorse Kelly as a potential running mate.
Fain also said the union does not support Shapiro. Shapiro has previously indicated a willingness to join Republicans in their calls to expand voucher programs that would allow government tax dollars to flow to private schools.
Fain singled out Beshear, Walz and Pritzker as his praise.
“She’s probably got a thousand people telling her the same thing, you know, what they’re thinking,” Fain said in an interview. “And so she has to make the decision based on what she thinks is, you know, best for her.”
The nonprofit Institute for Middle East Understanding said in a statement that Shapiro “is not the right candidate for the job, and selecting him would be a step in the wrong direction.”
Shapiro, who says he will attend Harris’ rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday, has been aggressive in opposing what he sees as anti-Semitism surfacing at pro-Palestinian demonstrations and has expressed solidarity with Israel in its efforts to eliminate Hamas as Israel battles the militants in Gaza.
Shapiro called on universities to take slow action against anti-Semitism and became a prominent critic of University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill. She resigned after the testimonies during a Congressional hearing, where after repeated questioning she was unable to say whether campus calls for genocide against Jews would violate the school’s conduct policy.
Shapiro also criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying an end to the war between Israel and Hamas is only possible if Hamas is ousted from power.
The governor has been criticized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations for not condemning Israel for killing civilians in Gaza or calling on Israel to stop fighting in the area. Shapiro has countered that he has met with Muslim Americans and understands their pain.
The progressive activist organization RootsAction.org opposes Shapiro’s positions on Israel, school vouchers and the environment, among other issues. They say that by considering Shapiro, Harris has “raised alarm bells among young people, racial justice organizers, Arab Americans, Muslims and others whose voices and campaign activism were crucial to defeating Trump four years ago.”
Meanwhile, The Philadelphia Inquirer resurfaced an op-ed Shapiro wrote in 1993 as a 20-year-old student at the University of Rochester in which he said there would “never be peace” in the Middle East and that Palestinians were “too belligerent” to coexist with Israel.
When asked, Shapiro replied, “I was 20,” adding that he has long supported a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
“I hope that a day will come when there is peace in the Middle East,” he said.
Some environmentalists and residents of the rural town of Shapiro are also opposed. Dimock, Pennsylvania. They have drafted a letter to Harris urging her not to select Shapiro and accusing the governor of failing to deliver on promises to clean up groundwater in the area contaminated by natural gas production through hydraulic fracturing.
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Associated Press journalist Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and AP Auto journalist Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this report.