We know that Vice President Kamala Harris, the likely Democratic nominee, has set a deadline of August 7 to announce her running mate. The question of who she should choose dominates conversations among donors and political panels on television. But the starting point should be “what does it take to win?”
Opinion columnist
Granderson Landing Station
LZ Granderson writes about culture, politics, sports, and navigating life in America.
The very premise of this question points to the glaring difference between the two parties heading into November. While mocking Sen. J.D. Vance is entertaining, the reality is that it’s a sideshow. If 34 felony convictions didn’t hurt Trump in the polls, his election as vice president ultimately won’t make a difference to voters either.
The stakes for Harris appear to be higher, as her selection will also reveal what the campaign believes she must do to win: convince the shifting middle class to trust her.
As I’ve written in the past, I think Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona should be the front-runner, primarily because of his military experience. Sources have told me he’s considering a governor, such as Andy Beshear of Kentucky, for his executive experience. And there are electoral college factors to consider: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro could potentially bring 19 electoral votes, if he’s added to the ticket and wins his home state — more than any of the other routinely mentioned contenders would presumably bring.
What the Harris campaign thinks it needs to do to win is a complicated question.
But a fight that the campaign No The need for victory is quite clear and arises in response to the name Shapiro.
“All of the potential VP candidates are pro-Israel,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) posted on social media in response to a post containing “#genocideJosh.” “Yet only one, Josh Shapiro, has been singled out for a far-left smear campaign… The reason he is being treated differently than the rest? Anti-Semitism.”
Torres is not wrong. When the names of other contenders are mentioned, their position on the war in Gaza is rarely the first topic discussed. And the fact that Shapiro is Jewish seems to be one of the main reasons why his stance on the war is so prominent in the minds of his detractors.
It’s not as if the Pennsylvania governor has had a major role in American foreign policy, not even as much as any senator would have. And yet, he’s mostly overshadowed by concerns about a “protest vote” — the fear that a faction of Democratic voters will stay home on Election Day or cast a token vote for some independent candidate, just to avoid backing a Harris-Shapiro ticket tied to the Gaza war. Remember the Michigan Democratic primary? More than 100,000 voted “uncommitted” in response to the Biden administration’s handling of the Gaza war.
For her part, Harris had no qualms about denouncing the atrocities directly to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, while calling for a ceasefire. It is not radical to oppose the war or to believe that Israel has been largely wrong in devastating Gaza. However, there is an extremist wing of the party that goes further, promoting the idea that Shapiro should not be vice president simply because he is Jewish. This is obviously absurd and anti-Semitic, and this kind of hateful thinking seems intended to discredit Harris as well, because her husband, second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, is Jewish.
For Trump, hurling disparaging remarks and insults at an opponent is an essential communication tool. When rioters chanted “Jews will not replace us” in the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, he called white supremacists “fine people.” The incident inspired President Biden to run for the White House, and in 2020 he won more votes than any other candidate in our nation’s history.
Yet four years later, some progressives are being accused of anti-Semitism, reminding us that Republicans have not cornered the market on prejudice. Just in case the flashes of anti-Semitism on our college campuses weren't enough of a clue.
Democratic leaders should not turn a blind eye to this. I'm glad Torres didn't. Asking whether the Gaza war could affect voter turnout is a fair question, given the number of protest votes recorded during the primaries and how close this race is expected to be. Of course, look closely at the backgrounds of the vice presidential candidates (Jewish or not) to see where they stand on the Gaza war.
But singling out Shapiro for being Jewish is not right and not even good politics. It is simply accepting anti-Semitism. Something similar happened when the Senate decided to start holding hearings in the Judiciary Committee for Supreme Court nominees after a Jewish man, Louis Brandeis, was nominated. Or when Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller, two Jewish American sprinters, were replaced on the U.S. 4×100-meter relay team at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.
Harris' choice of a running mate will delight some supporters and upset others. Whoever she chooses, anti-Semitism has no place in the discussion.
