Some fathers have to answer questions from their sons about the birds and the bees.
But in his new book “Where We Keep the Light” Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro describes his son Max asking if the firebombing of their residence (which took place after the first Seder of Passover) was because they are Jewish.
Known as an excellent speaker, perhaps the best on his side of the aisle, Shapiro proves he has a flair for writing with this gripping book that cuts to the point and doesn’t linger for too long. He writes with confidence, humor and poise. But to get the U.S. presidential nomination, he would have to win another gubernatorial contest in November, and likely face a stiff challenge in the form of California Governor Gavin Newsom.
“An Agent of the Israeli Government?”
There has been much speculation why Vice President Kamala Harris didn’t pick Shapiro to be her running mate, as the swing state of Pennsylvania was crucial and Shapiro was known for articulately attacking then-former President Donald Trump. Many speculated that due to the war in Gaza, Shapiro being Jewish and a Zionist might make Harris avoid him. In her book “107 Days,” Harris notes that some called him “Genocide Josh” and that he asked to be in the room for every decision.
Shapiro writes that White House counsel Dana Remus asked him: “Have you ever been an agent of the Israeli government?” and “Have you ever communicated with an undercover agent of Israel?”
Shapiro writes that he understood Remus was doing her job but that the questions “said a lot about some of the people around the VP.”
Shapiro notes that Harris asked him if she could win Pennsylvania without him and he answered that he wasn’t sure. He also writes that Harris asked if he would apologize for statements he made about protests at the University of Pennsylvania and his answer was that he would not because he believed in free speech but not vandalism and harassment. While he does not include that he asked to be in the room for every decision, he told her he always wanted his opinion to be heard, where in Harris’ view the vice president’s job was not to become a problem for the president.
Were the questions from Remus posed to cause Shapiro to drop out of the running? We will never know. He cites his son Max cutting through the fog, telling him shortly after the interview: “It doesn’t seem like you want to do it.” Shapiro explains that he then spoke with his wife Lori, then decided to drop out of the race but did not say so publicly. Did Harris believe she couldn’t pick Shapiro due to his support of Israel? Did she think he could upstage her with his oratory skills? Only she knows.
Out of the Fire and into the Light
Shapiro opens the book with the firebombing. While nobody in his family was hurt, they could have been injured or killed if the fire had spread faster. Cody Balmer, who pled guilty to throwing Molotov cocktails into the governor’s residence, referenced Palestine but it has not been judged a hate crime. Balmer admitted that he wanted to beat Shapiro with a hammer.
A Marriage to His Sweetheart and Jewish Pride
Shapiro went to a Jewish day school and met his wife, Lori, when she was in the ninth grade. Years later, he proposed in Jerusalem, and they’ve sent their four children (Sophia, Jonah, Max and Rueben) to the same school they attended. Shapiro writes that “since the tragic events of Oct. 7, we feel both a responsibility and pride demonstrating our faith and living it out loud. We know that many feel like it’s a trying time to live Jewishly. That doesn’t make us shy away from it. In fact, it leads us towards it. We have made it a point to show our faith. He ncludes Hebrew blessings in the book, keeps kosher, speaks about the importance of Shabbat and writes “for me, it is spirituality more than religiousness.”
How Does an Anti-Trump Candidate Get Trump Voters?
Shapiro brags that his record in elections is 12-1, with his only political campaign loss being in school. He went to the University of Rochester as an undergrad then graduated from Georgetown Law School. He proudly describes how President Barack Obama endorsed him in his run for attorney general. (Many have commented that Shapiro may have modeled his speaking style after Obama.) Shapiro includes a candid phone call from Trump asking how he is doing after the firebombing in which Trump warns him of the dangers of high office, as there was an attempt on Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Shapiro points with pride that he’s sued Trump several times and won, but still went to areas where he knew many were Trump fans. “Maybe I would be able to pick up some of their votes if I went there,” he writes. “I’d welcome that. But that wasn’t the only goal. I wanted these folks to know that even if they didn’t vote for me, I was going to show up for them. I would fight for them just the same.”
Of course, Harris picked Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Trump defeated Harris 50.4-48.7%, with 3,543,308 votes to 3,423,042 for Harris with Jill Stein getting .5%. In his 2022 race for governor, Shapiro defeated State Senator Doug Mastriano 56.5% to 41.7% with two other candidates tallying 1.8%. Mastriano critiqued Shapiro for “growing up in a privileged neighborhood” attending “one of the most privileged” schools in America and having “disdain for people like us” and also said Shapiro grew up in a wealthy neighborhood. Shapiro writes that he and CNN host Jake Tapper went to the same high school, Akiba Hebrew Academy.
Tree of Life Shooting and the Rise of Antisemitism
He recounts the harrowing shooting at the synagogue Tree of Life, Dor Hadash and New Light when Robert Bowers, armed with an AR-15 style rifle and three Glock .357 handguns murdered 11, one of the deadliest antisemitic attacks in America. He recalls going to Pittsburgh and grieving with community members. Shapiro offers a telling confession: “There have been times when I have struggled to figure out what my responsibility is as a person so public about my faith, at a time when it is more tenuous than ever to be Jewish in America.
Shapiro isn’t harsh on former President Joe Biden and doesn’t specifically mention any cognitive decline, saying only: “I saw what most people were seeing, which became harder to ignore after Biden’s debate performance.” He told Biden to his face that there were many in his state who thought he should drop out of the race.
A Good Sport
I respect Shapiro for saying he wasn’t sure he wanted to buy into the hype of pickleball. It’s clear that Shapiro actually knows a lot about the Phillies and Eagles. And schmoozing on Hunter Brody’s podcast, he mentions that he will shoot hoops in the backyard to clear his head.
Can Shapiro Become the First Jewish President?
California Gavin Newsom has unbeatable hair, and has worked hard to make himself look like the anti-Trump candidate and friend of Hollywood, despite some misses on his podcast. It is likely all his opponents will be to the left of Shapiro. Political and public relations guru Hank Sheinkopf said while a lot can happen in two years, Newsom is still the favorite and will place himself considerably to the left of Shapiro. Asked if Shapiro could win, given that Israel will be a big issue and Newsom appears to be aggressively going after the nomination, Sheinkopf was nuanced.
He “wouldn’t bet” on Shapiro winning, he told The Journal. “But he is a talented speaker and a gifted politician. We’ll see.”
Shapiro, 52, rarely deals with criticism in his book, other than to say that those who said he flip-flopped to be against the death penalty were wrong, as his position evolved. The man who was one of the youngest student body presidents at Rochester lays out a blueprint that a vote for him could be one for those who wish for a calmer, gentler America. In the final line of his book, despite not expressly saying he will run for the Democratic nomination for president, he writes “When the dark feels like it could consume us whole and churn us up and lose us, it is where we keep the light”
