(NewsNation) — Snubbing Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was a deliberate choice by Vice President Kamala Harris to overlook the moderate vote, a former presidential adviser told “On Balance with Leland Vittert.”
Mark Penn, an adviser to Bill Clinton’s 1996 campaign and current president of The Stagwell Group, believes Shapiro was an ideal candidate who was overlooked to avoid angering far-left, pro-Palestinian Democrats.
On Tuesday, Harris announced her pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, before rallying with him in Philadelphia. Walz has previously shared his belief in a “lasting two-state solution” and providing Palestinian aid, starkly different than Shapiro’s own opinions.
As the United States moves more troops to the Middle East and tensions rise among Israeli and Iranian leaders amid the Israel-Hamas war, Penn thinks America’s Jewish population would have felt safer under a Harris-Shapiro ticket.
“I think they would have felt more reassured if Shapiro, the logical choice, had been picked to be vice president,” Penn said, calling Walz’s nomination a “puzzling” decision.
But the Democratic ticket isn’t the only pairing he finds problems with. The Trump-Vance campaign, he said, is another example of politicians choosing like-minded partners rather than expanding the vote with more moderate-leaning running mates.
“Both Trump’s campaign and Harris’ campaign now doubled down on the base in their vice presidential picks and did not go for the center,” he told NewsNation. “Yeah, it’s perplexing.”
Though Penn referred to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as a “bad choice” and a “disappointing decision,” he does not think Jewish voters will defect from the Democratic Party over it. Instead, the community will be monitoring how the coming months play out.
“I think that Jews are going to be watching very closely over these next few days when Israel is under maximum pressure, and the Biden-Harris administration is going to be called upon to defend Israel against Iran,” Penn said.
