All posts tagged: Josh Shapiro

Democratic contenders, MAGA heirs emerge

Democratic contenders, MAGA heirs emerge

Published by Sam Flores

The shadow primary for the next presidential race is already underway as both parties ramp up this year’s midterm fight.  Potential Democratic contenders, from established names to rising stars, are openly weighing 2028 bids, signaling a wide-open field as their base searches for a new standard-bearer. Several top names, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, addressed the possibility at the National Action Network (NAN) conference last week as they pitched visions for their party’s future.  Across the aisle, Vice President Vance is positioned as the MAGA movement’s heir apparent, but recent polling and President Trump have suggested that Secretary of State Marco Rubio could be the successor, stoking questions about where the GOP base will go after more than a decade of Trump dominating party politics.  Here is The Hill’s latest roundup of the top 2028 presidential hopefuls: Democratic comeback bids Harris, who ran in 2020 and became the party’s pick in 2024, has remained at the fore of Democratic polling and chatter about who will lead the party in 2028 — and she’s openly admitted to considering a comeback bid. “Listen, …

What Josh Shapiro’s new memoir tells us about a potential presidential run

What Josh Shapiro’s new memoir tells us about a potential presidential run

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro opens his new memoir, “Where We Keep the Light: Stories From a Life of Service,” on the night his governor’s mansion was set on fire in the quiet hours after his family celebrated the Passover Seder. Shapiro describes the arsonist and his motives: “He later told police that he harbored hatred for me. If he had found me, he told them under questioning, he would have beaten me with the hammer. He added that he would not take part in my ‘plans’ for whatever I ‘[wanted] to do to the Palestinian people.’ Now, I never have had any ‘plans,’ nor do I know what he meant by what I want ‘to do to the Palestinian people,’ but the statement seemed pointed.”  To the incident, Shapiro responded with faith. He writes: “We don’t look toward the darkness. I knew that we would find meaning from the fire. I knew that we would lean on our faith and our community even more as our way through. I knew that after everything, that’s where …

Harris’ dual loyalty test for Shapiro

Harris’ dual loyalty test for Shapiro

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — It is an almost predictable rite of passage in American Jewish life. I am talking about how so many Jewish kids spend time in Israel when they are teenagers or college students. They go on youth movement trips, study abroad programs, gap-year experiences. Some do various kinds of volunteer work. They come home sunburned, thoughtful and changed.  It is an unremarkable story. And it is precisely what young Josh Shapiro did.  Josh would grow up to become Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania. He is an appropriately ambitious politician — so much so, that he came within inches of becoming Kamala Harris’ running mate.  And then, there was the vetting process — as Shapiro has revealed in his new memoir, “Where We Keep the Light.” Members of the campaign team asked Gov. Shapiro whether he had ever been a “double agent for Israel.” When he responded with disbelief, the question escalated. Dana Remus asked him: Had he ever communicated with an undercover agent for Israel? To which Shapiro responded: “If they were undercover, how …