Shapiro slammed by several liberal groups, Bill DeWeese on State House & Big House similarities + McCormick web ad goes viral
Sharp analysis of PA politics and campaigns writ large
Welcome to the Friday End of the Week post here at PA Political Digest (PPD) — I’m your guide, veteran GOP political consultant Christopher Nicholas. I also serve as a political analyst for ABC27 News in Harrisburg, and appear weekly as the Republican analyst on This Week in Pennsylvania, (TWIP) the only state-wide show on PA’s politics and policy, which airs Sundays in each of our 6 TV markets.
PPD publishes Tuesday mornings and Friday afternoons.
For you today, we have:
Did you notice the liberal pro education groups (and others) that came out against choosing our gov as VP Harris’ running mate?
5 Questions With…today features former House Speaker Bill DeWeese on life in the Marines and the slammer, etc. (Take a moment now to dust off that old thesaurus on your bookshelf, you might need it.)
Backstage at This Week in Pennsylvania, the only state-wide Sunday show focused on PA Politics, we speak with long-time Democrat politico and former Gov. Wolf CoS Mary Isenhour.
Did you notice?
Did you notice that a gaggle of pro public education groups have come out against Gov. Josh Shapiro as a VP choice for Democrats because of his support of school vouchers?
Those vouchers almost made it into the state budget last year, but this year were not really in the budget conversation. House Democrats put the kibosh on them by refusing to allow them to come up for a vote in 2023. The governor pledged his support for a voucher plan during his 2022 campaign, the one where he cruised to victory against GOP State Sen. Doug Mastriano.
As the groups wrote to VP Harris, “The battle lines have been drawn. We urge you to select a nominee for Vice President who unabashedly supports and defends public education. For example, nominees such as Governors Roy Cooper (North Carolina), Andy Beshear (Kentucky), and Tim Walz (Minnesota) have been vocal champions for public education in their states. We find it incumbent upon us to note that Governor Josh Shapiro (Pennsylvania) has not, and instead has supported voucher schemes pushed by well-funded billionaires from Pennsylvania like Jeffrey Yass.”
The 25+ education groups from across the country that signed the letter included several here in PA.
The right-of-center Commonwealth Foundation is also pointing out what it sees as Shapiro’s flaws, via a micro-site, ShapiroRecord.com.
And the Jewish Insider has a story today on how liberal Jewish groups are going after Shapiro for his views on pro-Israel views, writing: “As Vice President Kamala Harris and her campaign team get closer to selecting a running mate, the online left has centered their hostility on one potential candidate: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. The most vehement opposition to Shapiro centers on his unapologetic support for Israel, and his criticisms of extreme anti-Israel student protesters.”
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that Shapiro, along with MI Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, will campaign for Harris in SEPA on Monday. I noticed this on X/Twitter, after it was posted by…Shapiro’s press secretary.
And so it goes…
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5 Questions With…
Today we feature former Democratic House Speaker Bill DeWeese of Greene County, who spent several years in the Marines and much later, several years in state prison due to his conviction in the BonusGate scandal, both of which bracketed his long career in the State House. He represented the 50th District in far SW PA from 1976-2012. Read on for what he sees as the similarities between the State House and the Big House.