President Joe Biden’s announcement Sunday that he was ending his reelection bid has upended politics nationwide, and will almost certainly have a particularly acute impact on Pennsylvania.
Many Democrats are expecting a new candidate to be accompanied by a renewed vigor to prevent another Donald Trump presidency — a push that is likely to filter down to other candidates on the ballot who, in several cases, had been out-performing the top of the ticket.
Further, Biden bowing out means that Democrats could select Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — whose name ranks high in recent polling — as their nominee for either the presidency or more likely as a vice-presidential pick behind current VP Kamala Harris, who Biden has endorsed to lead the ticket.
Shapiro, in a statement issued Sunday evening, endorsed Harris — describing her as “a patriot worthy of our support” and someone who will “perfect our union, protect our democracy, and advance real freedom.”
Similarly, PA Sen. Sharif Street, D-Philadelphia – the chair of the state Democratic Committee and head of Pennsylvania’s delegation to the Democratic National Convention – said at a Sunday press conference that “I fully anticipate” the state party to convene in the next few days to endorse Harris.
While delegates will be able to support the candidate of their choosing at the convention, Street said he plans to encourage everyone to unite around Harris. In speaking with his counterparts elsewhere, the “overwhelming majority of state chairs say they intend to support Kamala Harris, and they anticipate that Kamala Harris will be our nominee and the next President of United States,” Street said.
Few Democrats, however, wanted to engage in broad speculation about Shapiro’s role, stressing the need to consolidate the party around the idea of a new direction while also emphasizing the concrete accomplishments that Biden – and Harris – have already shown.
“I don’t know if today’s the day to begin discussions about that,” PA House Majority Leader Matt Bradford, D-Montgomery County, said of Shapiro being on the ticket.
“Obviously, it’s going to be a compressed period of time and Gov. Shapiro has an amazing record that’s worthy of consideration,” Bradford continued, “but again, today is about President Biden and his decades of service to our country.”
Bradford is one of many state Democratic leaders who will serve as a delegate to the party convention next month in Chicago; Pa Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny County, also fills the same role.
“As a committed Biden delegate, I’ve got to give a lot of consideration to the president’s preference for Vice President Harris,” Costa said Sunday.
“I also think Josh Shapiro could be an outstanding leader in this country and as we go through this process over the course of the next several weeks, we’ll see how that plays out and how it culminates at the convention,” Costa continued. “But it’s too early to tell who all is going to be in the mix for the president or the vice president at this point.”
Street likewise said he would be supportive of Shapiro as a VP pick, but that Harris needed space to make the decision herself.
“I’m always for the hometown kid, but I really do believe we have to let Kamala Harris, when she’s our presidential nominee, make that selection,” Street said.
Biden announced his departure from the race in an open letter to the American people on Sunday, highlighting a number of his accomplishments — such as climate change legislation, lowering prescription drug costs, and record job creation — but concluding that “I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”
The move capped weeks of heated discussions among Democrats as to Biden’s ability to carry through the campaign after a lackluster debate performance and concerns about his age and stamina.
National media on Sunday reported general enthusiasm from political allies that Harris, Shapiro, or any other possible picks would be able to run on the best aspects of Biden’s record without his personal limitations.
“There’s no president in a generation who has been as steadfast in his commitment to amplifying the American labor movement,” Angela Ferritto, president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, wrote Sunday, adding that Biden “shifted the paradigm toward working people” and that Harris “has been standing shoulder to shoulder” with him in that effort.
Costa similarly credited Biden’s economy — with its low unemployment and high infrastructure investment — for Pennsylvania’s significant budget surplus, which has also been a highlight of Shapiro’s governorship.
“If there was to be a Harris-Shapiro ticket and I think the message that they have would resonate in the important states like Wisconsin and Illinois and Michigan,” Costa said. “There’s similarities in the nature of those states and that will bring a lot of support to a national ticket.”
Eugene DePasquale – the Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania Attorney General – told PennLive on Sunday that Biden bowing out creates “a whole new ball game” for political campaigns in the Commonwealth.
“I think it’s a decision he made to put the country before his own self-interest, and that is a very rare thing for people to do,” DePasquale said of Biden’s decision to drop out and endorse Harris.
“Certainly as I was campaigning across the state, [Biden] was bleeding independents and the moderate Republicans” who had supported him in 2020, DePasquale observed.
But with Biden stepping aside, “now I think we’ve got a whole new ball game,” DePasquale continued, and “there will be a renewed energy into the campaign as a result of this decision.”
DePasquale is known for his cross-partisan support, easily winning two terms as Pennsylvania Auditor General in the 2012 and 2016 elections, and coming close to unseating Rep. Scott Perry – a close Trump ally – in 2020.
DePasquale, along with other popular statewide Democrats like Sen. Bob Casey, have been running significantly ahead of Biden in recent polls – not dissimilar from 2016, where DePasquale easily won re-election despite Hillary Clinton losing Pennsylvania.
“It can be done, but it makes it more challenging,” DePasquale said of running with a less-popular candidate at the top of the ticket.
“I have enormous respect for the President,” DePasquale said, but the polling gap “means there’s clearly an issue with the debate, clearly an issue with his age, those were certainly factors.”
Assuming Harris is the nominee at the Democratic National Convention next month, “she has the ability to prosecute the case against the former President that the current President was not capable of doing,” DePasquale said. “She’ll have the ability to be in four states in one day.”
Street also predicted that Harris — who would be the first woman and first woman of color to become President — would energize Pennsylvania’s black voters. Running a candidate two decades younger than Trump would also help motivate the commonwealth’s younger voters, Street said.
“She’s no stranger to us, she’s spent a lot of time here and I think people will be ready to enthusiastically support her,” Street said.
PennLive Capitol reporter Jan Murphy contributed to this story.
©2024 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit pennlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Source: Berkshire mont
Be First to Comment