ALAN DERSHOWITZ: Did Harris Reject Gov. Shapiro Because Of Jew-Haters In Her Party?

Progressives certainly lobbied hard against Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and are now celebrating a victory of bigotry over principle.

What role did Shapiro’s Jewishness have in his not being selected as Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate? We will never know the answer with certainty, because we do not have access to the workings of Harris’s mind. On paper, though, it seems clear to many that Shapiro was the obvious choice to help Harris’s electoral prospects.

He is, after all, the popular governor of the most important state on the electoral map for Democrats. He is more to the center than Harris, thus expanding her base and potentially attracting more independents and moderates. Many knowledgeable observers think that if Shapiro’s name had been, say, Jim Shepard instead of Josh Shapiro, he would have been selected.

Yet, woke progressives mounted a campaign against him, focusing on his Zionism, his support for Israel, and his opposition to some of the post-Oct. 7 protests. In these respects, he was no different than the other potential candidates, including Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota. Indeed, in an effort to placate the anti-Israel progressives, Shapiro went out of his way to exaggerate his criticism of Prime Minister Netanyahu, calling him “one of the worst leaders of all time.”

No reasonable critic of Netanyahu would categorize him with past leaders such as Stalin, Castro, and Arafat. Shapiro also seemed to apologize for his teenage activities on behalf of Israel, claiming that he was young. None of these attempts to pander to the hard left have worked.