American Thinker

by Arthur Schaper

    On Election Day 2026, the Democrats will focus everything on Election 2028. They must win the presidency, or their relevance as a national party will collapse. Besides, the pundits will be jabbering about the lineup, and some candidates will announce their bids in January or February 2027. That’s the tradition, especially after Trump launched his ultimately successful re-election bid following the 2022 midterms.

    Democrats are on the chopping block, and it’s now or never. Do they have a chance of capitalizing on voter anger over higher gas prices and stubborn inflation  Will Trump’s party falter in 2026, creating an opening for them to give the public another choice  Voters are still clamoring about affordability issues, and Trump Derangement Syndrome has barely abated, even among some Republicans.

    I outlined a general field of candidates who could compete in 2028. I took another look at California Governor Gavin Newsom.

    Now it’s time to sound the alarm about Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.

    He will likely win re-election by double digits, making him a quality candidate.

    He has served at many levels of state government, including as deputy speaker of the House, Attorney General, and governor.

    Shapiro has reliably won statewide elections in a swing state, one that Democrats had kept in their presidential column for thirty years until Trump flipped working-class Democrat voters to the GOP. Democrats need to accept the harsh reality of shifting Keystone State politics. Voter registration continues trending GOP, and more GOP candidates are winning statewide races. Aside from governor and lieutenant governor, Republicans hold nearly every statewide executive office. They still control the State Senate, and they are two seats away from retaking the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

    If these facts don’t help, national Democrats cannot ignore Dave McCormick’s impressive defeat of the long-established Democrat Casey machine to become the next U.S. Senator. Senior Senator John Fetterman is moving closer to the GOP every day, too, having recently recorded a video for its midterm convention. While he denies that he will ever switch parties, he certainly doesn’t like his own lately.

Democrats need a Democrat who can compete and win in swing states like Pennsylvania. How could they not endorse Shapiro

    The AG-turned-governor slaughtered the Republican nominee in 2022 by 14 points, and he’s on track to win by a wider margin this year. I made phone calls for his Republican opponent in 2022, and I was stunned by the number of Republican voters—yes, the same MAGA types who supported Trump in 2016 and 2020—who refused to vote for the GOP nominee.

    At least 9% of Pennsylvania’s Republican/MAGA vote pulled the lever for Shapiro. Democrats need a candidate like that to win nationally in 2028.

    He has a long record of bipartisanship, having served under a moderate Republican statehouse speaker because a slim Democrat majority could not agree on a Democrat speaker.

    Governor Shapiro has also maintained a broad bipartisan record as governor. He kept Republican Al Schmidt as Secretary of the Commonwealth. Of course, state law requires Senate confirmation, although the PA GOP does not have a supermajority in that chamber. He could have nominated a more liberal candidate, but he backed the Republican incumbent to avoid the political drama.

    Shapiro has demonstrated decent leadership as chief executive, while other potential Democrat contenders must contend with records of corruption, malfeasance, and failure (Newsom, Whitmer, Pritzker, etc.). The Pennsylvania governor has earned plaudits for quickly fixing roads and bridges, including after the notorious collapse of a section of I-95. He restored six lanes of traffic in 12 days by coordinating local, state, and federal efforts and resources. This kind of bread-and-butter competence can attract run-of-the-mill voters looking for normalcy but who don’t want to vote GOP.

    Unlike his liberal peers, Shapiro has a committed record on public safety. As Attorney General, he focused on getting guns out of criminals’ hands, as opposed to criminalizing law-abiding gun owners. He openly sparred with Philadelphia’s George Soros-backed District Attorney Larry Krasner, who has spent most of his tenure treating criminals better than police officers and taxpayers.

    Shapiro has also handled crises with leadership and professionalism. The 2018 Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh was the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. As Attorney General, he responded quickly and worked with law enforcement and the community afterward.

    When President Trump was nearly assassinated in Butler, PA, Shapiro did not play partisan antagonist or indifferent executive. He worked closely with local and federal offices, including Republicans, to ensure everyone’s safety, to review the security failures, and to provide better security measures in the future.

    Shapiro has signed off on corporate tax cuts and property-tax relief; he has streamlined licensure regulations so that licensed professionals can enter the state job market faster with less hassle. He has labeled himself an “all-of-the-above” energy governor, supporting the expansion of natural gas and nuclear energy, and he has withdrawn Pennsylvania from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. He even supports fracking, a position that U.S. Senator John Fetterman had opposed and then pivoted on during his 2022 campaign.

    Showing further pragmatism on recent issues, Shapiro has advocated a broader, more open stance on data centers, showing some agreement with President Trump. He wants proper regulations to avoid heavy resource costs on ratepayers, but he also seeks economic opportunity and business expansion for his state.

    He’s still a liberal when it comes to LGBT issues, abortion, and guns, so he’s a Democrat, and those positions will lend him support in the Democrat primary.

    Here are the liabilities facing Shapiro, should he throw his hat in the ring:

1.  He’s Jewish, and he served as a volunteer in Israel

The Democrat party is embracing anti-Semitism with a self-destructive terrorist ferocity. Shapiro could push himself as an outsider with the inside knowledge to win elections at the national level, but can he overcome the pro-Palestinian militants

2.  His bipartisanship

    His record of working across the aisle could kill his chances with the Democrat grassroots. Shapiro’s reform record on education will dampen his support from a key Democrat constituency: teachers’ unions. Although he recently backed proposals that would reduce or redirect some existing school-choice funding, national teachers’ unions may not forgive his record.

3.  His no-drama competence

    Sadly, all the merits that would make Shapiro competitive, even dangerous for Republicans in a general election, would stymie his rise in the primary. Bernie Bros, the DSA, and angry progressives looking to destroy anything with a hint of conservatism or alignment with Trump will rally against Shapiro. Former Vice President Kamala Harris didn’t select him as her VP nominee amid significant progressive opposition to his positions on Israel and Gaza. That has not changed.

    In the next two years, however, enough grassroots leaders, consultants, and political pundits might have the power and sway to convince Democrat voters to back away from the woke craziness of AOC, Bernie Sanders, and Hasan Piker. If the 2026 elections are a dud for the Democrat party, Shapiro can capitalize on the DSA-based failures and make a call for moving to the middle and establishing a Democrat party that can compete in all fifty states again.