PA Political Digest - Dems anoint their newish ticket, Shapiro snaps back at Fetterman & Is morality the animator?
Sharp analysis of PA politics and campaigns writ large
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Welcome to the Friday End of Week post here at PPD. I’m your guide, GOP Political consultant Christopher Nicholas…another hectic weeks draws to a close.
For you today we have:
Did you notice the Dems got their newish ticket nominated and accelerated in Chicago while Donald Trump perhaps got a wicked good boost to his campaign today
Our 5 Questions With… feature showcases former GOP State Rep. (and new morning TV host) Jeff Coleman, who asks: Is morality the animator?
On TV This Week in Pennsylvania talks to PA House Speaker Joanna McClinton
In Extras, down at the bottom, Gov. Shapiro snaps back at Sen. Fetterman as their public clash continues unabated and…there are pro-life Dems?
Did you notice?
Did you notice that after some trouble sticking to their schedule for Days 1-3, the Democrats got their act together last night. Vice President Kamala Harris hit the stage at 10:31 pm, which was what they should have accomplished the three previous nights.
She hushed the crowd and said “we gotta get to some business,” and then launched into her speech, which lasted less than 39 minutes. Watch it here. (no paywall) The BBC fact-checked her speech (no paywall).
The VP took pains to declare that “we must be worthy of this moment” and continued one of the Democrat’s main themes, repeating “we will not go back.” Like many of the speeches in Chicago, she tried to frame herself as the change agent, even though she and Joe Biden have held office for nearly 4 years.
As we wrote earlier in the week, Harris has benefited simply by being neither Trump nor Biden…now that she’s officially the Democratic nominee, she will need to exist politically more on her own…not just as a foil to two older men, one her boss…the other her adversary.
Democrats also let out a sigh of relief last night as the Convention ended without any serious disruptions and protests on the streets of Chicago.
Tim Walz’ acceptance speech began promptly Wednesday night at…11:22pm — again, outside the prime time 8-11pm window on the east coast. Why would they want “Coach” Tim Walz’ speech to play to fewer viewers?
Watch his entire, brief (under 20 minutes) speech. (no paywall)
Many of the swing states (GA, NC, PA, MI) inhabit the Eastern time zone (and contain 66 Electoral votes), so why wouldn’t the DNC better stick to its schedule for marquee speakers such as presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton?
Wisconsin sits in the Central time zone, while NV is in the Pacific time zone. Arizona is one those states that does not observe daylight savings time, so they currently observe Mountain time.
Remember we switch (fall back) to standard time on Sunday, Nov. 3, just two days before the general election.
Earlier Wednesday evening Gov. Shapiro delivered his speech to the Convention, which I’m sure sounded new to many, but seemed to be standard fare for him, touching on broad themes of freedom…while lambasting Trump.
The Inquirer had an exhaustive round up of his busy schedule in Chicago, as he was an in-demand speaker throughout the week. He and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis even sponsored a happy hour that featured “mini Chicago-style hot dogs. (whatever those are) Did Team PA pick up that tab too, or did their campaign account?
On social media, Trump took the time to repay Shapiro by panning his speech, referring to him as “The highly overrated Jewish Governor of the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania…” That gave Shapiro an excuse to go on cable TV Thursday and lambaste Trump a bit more…so, Mission accomplished.
It seems clear from his comments on Trump, and on Fetterman (see below, in Extras) that our governor does not seem to mind publicly feuding with other politicians, regardless of party.
Former President Bill Clinton also spoke Wednesday evening. He looked good, though now at 78, he has begun to fade a bit. I remarked on X/Twitter that he still enjoyed wagging his finger at people during his speeches. As we’re all supposedly obsessed with candidates ages now, he made sure to point out that even though he’d just celebrated a birthday, he was still younger than Trump.
Interestingly, Clinton, Bush 43 and Trump were all born in the summer of 1946. (Aug. 19 / July 6 / June14…1946)
A few hours ago, wack-a-doodle Indie candidate RFK, Jr. suspended his campaign for president and endorsed Donald Trump. That could have a marginal impact on the presidential race as most recent polls here have given Harris a small edge…so it could be impactful.
And it was a decent way to blunt some of the momentum the Democrats created in Chicago.
Remember that in 2016 Hillary Clinton lost PA by 44,000 votes while Green Party nominee Jill Stein took almost 50,000 votes. (Stein looks to have made the PA ballot again this year.)
Like most independent candidates for president, RFK Jr.’s support fizzled as it (tried to) move forward. Democrats, who regularly hit the GOP for trying to subvert democracy with their voter integrity operations, of course were busy this week knocking minor lefty presidential candidates off PA’s ballot. (no paywall)
5 Questions With…
Today we feature Jeff Coleman. First elected in 2000 at age 25 to the State House from Armstrong County, Jeff served 2 terms there as a GOP member from the Democratic-majority 60th District. Since then he’s founded his consulting firm, Churchill Media, and run for Lt Governor in the 2022 Republican primary. Earlier this week he launched his new TV show, Morning Light, which airs on Lighthouse TV each weekday at 9am.
This Week in Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth’s only state-wide political talk show, This Week in PA, features its usual Sunday run down of “hot topics in PA politics and policy,” plus an interview with House Speaker, Democratic State Rep. Joanna McClinton of Philadelphia.
Watch TWIP Sunday across the state:
Philly Phl17 1:30pm
Pittsburgh KDKA+ Ch. 19 Noon
Harrisburg ABC27News 10am
Scranton WBRE Ch. 28 11am
Johnstown WTAJ Ch. 10 6:30am
Erie JET-TV Ch. 24 10am
You may also stream the show here — the new show loads around Noon on Sundays.
Extras
And on and on it goes. Readers of our Tuesday post will remember the big story we highlighted on Sen. John Fetterman’s Comms Director contradicting him, on the record, about his strong support of Israel. Readers will also remember that Fetterman and Shapiro have been involved in a very public feud now for weeks, starting back when Fetterman had staff relay to Team Harris that he didn’t think Shapiro was a good fit for the #2 slot as he was too ambitious, etc.
On Wednesday Shapiro had a chance to tamp down their squabble, but instead said this to Bloomberg reporter Jonathan Tamari, formerly with the Inquirer: