Shapiro’s kind of town | PA 2024 Newsletter

📅 There are 73 days until Election Day.

In this edition:

—Julia Terruso, Gillian McGoldrick, Anna Orso, Katie Bernard, Aliya Schneider, Sean Collins Walsh, Oona Goodin-Smith, pa2024@inquirer.com

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Conventions are made-for-TV productions. Unless you’re a popular politician in attendance, then they’re made for networking and profile raising.

Gov. Josh Shapiro was everywhere this week, stopping up and down the Magnificent Mile, Chicago’s posh stretch of hotels along Michigan Avenue, where many of the state delegations stayed for the DNC.

He talked about “getting stuff done,” at early morning breakfasts, sat for national news interviews, and hit receptions across the city boosting Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz, and also promoting his own administration. And that was all before he delivered a prime-time speech to the convention Wednesday.

It’s clear to basically everyone in politics that Shapiro has national ambitions, so soaking up the spotlight wasn’t exactly a surprise. But his reception off his home turf was something we haven’t seen a lot of. Reviews were good. Delegates from around the country, most of them party loyalists who tend to know Democratic political figures, really like Shapiro. There were selfie lines and flattering reviews, eager handshakes and hugs among Democrats from some key states.

“I specifically wanted to be here in New Hampshire this morning,” he told residents of the early voting state. “Because when the power is in the hands of New Hampshire, you all know how to pick a president, and you know how to get the job done.”

We did pick up on a little criticism – after Shapiro spoke to one delegation, an attendee who didn’t want to be named called him a great orator, but questioned how well he could connect.

“There can be such a thing as too polished.”

🎈Vice President Kamala Harris formally accepted her party’s historic nomination for president Thursday before a packed-in crowd at Chicago’s United Center. Now that the balloons have fallen, here are our takeaways from the DNC, and what it could mean for Harris in November in crucial Pennsylvania.

🎤 The DNC roll call, making Harris the first Black woman and first Asian American nominated by a major party for president, was largely ceremonial. But it also meant a whole lot.

🛬Trump was in Pennsylvania twice in the past week, and he made clear why he has become a frequent visitor to the battleground state: “They say that if you win Pennsylvania, you’re going to win the whole thing.”

📱Trump also set his sights on Shapiro, attacking his DNC speech in a rant on Truth Social, and calling him a “highly overrated Jewish Gov.” Shapiro’s response: “He’s someone who has routinely peddled antisemitic tropes like this.”

🐘 The DNC was a who’s who of Democratic politicos (except Sen. John Fetterman), and celebs like Lil Jon and Oprah. But also in the mix was a coalition of Philly-based former Nikki Haley voters and anti-Trump Republicans, rallying around Harris.

🚓 Among those anti-Trump Republicans: A former Montco GOP leader, who said police were called to his home after he backed Harris, and later lost his position.

📚 Most small-city mayors don’t see the president of the United States as often as Scranton’s. And as President Joe Biden delivered his farewell speech this week, Mayor Paige Cognetti said the city is making a push for his presidential library and to “start celebrating him and his legacy.”

🏛️ Across the Delaware River, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy named his former chief of staff to replace convicted U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez until November’s high-stakes election. Rep. Andy Kim — the Democrat vying for the seat — had a moment in the DNC spotlight, reflecting on the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

The claim: “Project 2025 would cut overtime pay for hard-working Americans.”

That was Philly state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, who spoke at the DNC Tuesday and pilloried Project 2025, the blueprint for a second Trump administration put together by conservative groups.

✖️The check: Not exactly.

Project 2025 does mention overtime, but it doesn’t recommend cutting it. It urges Congress to pass the “Working Families Flexibility Act,” a Republican-backed bill that amends labor regulations to explicitly allow employers to give employees time-and-a-half comp time instead of overtime pay.

Democrats oppose the legislation, saying it empowers employers to strip workers of overtime pay and effectively cut wages. But that’s not what the text of the bill says. Under the legislation, employees must agree to accept comp time in lieu of overtime, and it explicitly bars employers from coercing or threatening employees into doing so.

📈 Austin Davis: Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor had a big week in Chicago, too. Davis is the nation’s youngest lieutenant governor and the first Black person elected to the executive branch in Pennsylvania (excluding the state row offices, where Republican Auditor General Tim DeFoor was the first Black official elected in 2020.) The Western Pennsylvanian made his national stage debut in joint remarks with other lieutenant governors on Monday. But he’s also been trying to make a name for himself back at home by attempting to make the mostly unknown office more useful.

📉 RFK Jr.: Less than 48 hours after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. showed up to court in Harrisburg too late to testify in defense of keeping his name on Pennsylvania’s November ballot, major news organizations reported he plans to drop out of the presidential race. Blaming a canceled flight, Kennedy was an hour and 40 minutes late to the Pennsylvania hearing, the Associated Press reported. Kennedy’s independent campaign for president was already struggling when his running mate said he was considering endorsing Trump. Sources told the New York Times he is planning to do just that on Friday – though they warn his plans could still change.

What he said: Republican Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, held a rally in North Philadelphia on Monday. And before stopping for a cheesesteak on his way out, he made sure to mock Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s military service record, which has become a talking point for Republicans since Walz was tapped as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate.

“Before the end of the campaign, Tim Walz is going to be talking about how he was carrying an M-16 through the jungles of Vietnam,” Vance said.

Republicans have fixated on Walz retiring from the military to run for Congress just months before his unit was alerted it would be going to Iraq. Vance and Walz are both veterans, but neither fought in combat. Vance spent four years in the Marine Corps and Walz spent 24 years in the National Guard.

What he meant: “Tim Walz is a poser for embracing his military background.”

What he said: During his speech to the DNC, Biden remarked on his 52 years in national politics: “I’ve either been too young to be in the Senate, because I wasn’t 30 yet, and too old to stay as president.”

What he meant: “The goalposts are always moving.”

The president, former vice president, and former U.S. senator representing Delaware, was first elected at age 29 in 1972. And he faced the opposite issue as president on the other side of his career, getting pressured to drop out of the race until he withdrew last month. It was one of a handful of times Biden, 81, joked about his age during his 45-minute address.

The Pennsylvania delegation floor section was a popular (and crowded) place to be at the DNC all week. Here are some of the things we overheard on the floor:

🔵 Mayor Cherelle L. Parker asking who Lil Jon was as he started performing during the Georgia roll call.

🔵 Some grumbling that Maryland Gov. Wes Moore got a longer speaking slot than Shapiro.

🔵 A lot of complaints about camera people blocking delegates’ views (the downside of Pennsylvania getting primo seats up front).

➡️ The polls, and whether Harris sees a post-convention bump in numbers.

➡️ If the Sept. 10 presidential debate at Philly’s National Constitution Center will have a live audience.

➡️ Which media outlet gets the first interview with Harris, who has promised a sit-down interview “by the end of the month.”

That’s all for this week. Thanks for following along with Julia and Sean from the floor of the DNC, and as always, you can find our most recent coverage at inquirer.com/politics. We’ll see you here again next Friday. 👋