Meanwhile, Shapiro’s children attended Jewish Day School because he could afford it. Trust him: he wants to support school choice, but as his “penance” for saying out loud that he supports the policy, he had to cut funding dramatically for cyber charter students and now pledges to cut tuition-assistance scholarships from Pennsylvania’s 25-year-old program. He wants to support the federal “Education Freedom Tax Credit” – requiring states wanting to participate to opt-in – but he’s still “reviewing” a law passed over 370 days ago, with guidelines published over 30 days ago. There are only a dozen states left to decide. Tick tock, Governor.
Shapiro’s chameleon-like behavior on school choice is instructive for other divisive issues. From natural gas development (for it, against it, then for it – if it’s part of an all-of-the-above approach … but it has to be heavily regulated) to attempts to ban men from playing girls’ sports (he won’t declare if he’d sign such a bill; then adds that he doesn’t want biological men to have an “unfair advantage,” but adds that the bill’s sponsors are “extremists”).
He’s had almost as many positions on data centers.
There are lots of opinions that one can have on education, school choice, natural gas, energy, genders and sports, and data centers. Shapiro has held them all.
His legacy media friends cite his flexible rhetoric and being all things to all people to label him as a “moderate,” when they think that helps his chances at re-election, or even becoming president.
False. Being a moderate doesn’t mean flip-flopping, or that you lack principles.
Shapiro’s rhetoric reveals a man who is missing core beliefs, or who doesn’t respect voters enough to tell them the truth. Worse, it reveals a politician so hungry for office that he’s willing to adapt to almost any position – in the same campaign, in the same day – on all but those few things his political calculus tells him to hold dear.
Moderates don’t propose budgets with multi-billion-dollar deficits. They don’t burn through savings necessary for emergencies. They also don’t propose legalizing recreational marijuana –especially as some states with legalization are re-thinking it.
Moderates don’t support abortion on demand up through birth, seeking taxpayer funding. They don’t eliminate funding for crisis pregnancies centers. They don’t “tweet” about abortion every week. They also don’t sue the Little Sisters of the Poor to force them to provide contraceptives as part of their non-profit’s health insurance.
Shapiro seems to be wrestling with who he is with his brand. He’s unsure how he wants to introduce himself to Democratic voters in Iowa, etc. It’s why he has multiple positions on issues that he doesn’t (yet) see as part of the Democrats’ “10 commandments.”
He wants to drive his car along the white lines, separating two lanes – avoiding picking a lane until he has to choose.
The current battle among Democrats is his dilemma. Does he stake his claim – show leadership –and urge his party to move away from crazy, or does he lean into the rhetoric of the Democratic-Socialists?
He has endorsed Working Families Party candidates – the true-believing Socialists who avoid using the kinder, gentler “Democratic-Socialist” label. Yet he avoided endorsing Hasan Piker-supported Chris Rabb in Philadelphia’s third district congressional primary.
When he was attorney general, Shapiro used to battle with Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner for being “soft on crime.” But as governor, Shapiro hasn’t battled with the Soros-funded Krasner.
After the political earthquake of the New York Democratic Primaries – and the countless victories of the allies of AOC and Mamdani – Shapiro zigged and zagged.
He tweeted an olive branch to socialists: “I believe that government can be a force for good …We are proving that … but there’s more progress to make.” Yet he has done interviews telling audiences that one of New York’s newly nominated Congressional candidates, Avila Chevalier –an anti-Semitic, socialist radical – is “not someone who I seemingly would agree with on many things.”
Shapiro wants to be governor. He wants to be president. It’s clear that he will say almost anything and adapt to almost any position.
The party’s treatment of U.S. Sen. John Fetterman has been far more instructive of their party than the Senator – 93% loyalty to Majority Leader Schumer and being rated 100% by the AFL-CIO and Planned Parenthood is not good enough to spare him.
Shapiro’s instincts keep him from fully embracing the Mamdani-Socialists, yet he doesn’t want to offend them. But he has to keep his eyes on re-election in purple Pennsylvania, where his missteps on data centers, school choice, and state budgets – coupled with his obvious run for the presidency – draws away his attention and has provided an opening for State Treasurer Stacy Garrity.
Like with Fetterman, Shapiro’s chameleon-like rhetoric tells us as much about the Democrats’ presidential primary battle as it does about him.
Shapiro needs to “pick a lane.” Otherwise, he could be a candidate without a constituency … and even an ex-governor.
