CNN
—
Josh Shapiro had a big spending edge and his Republican opponents were weak, but Pennsylvania’s incoming governor said Democrats wanted more than he simply gave voters a fight for his little man speech. We still think it’s remarkable how it made things look – and the party’s biggest margin in a struggling 2022 swing state race.
“People don’t think governments have the courage to stand up to those in power and they can do that,” Shapiro said in an interview with CNN. “So I think some people will say, ‘This guy really took on the big guys and really accomplished something.'”
He’s talking about his extensive six-year record as Pennsylvania Attorney General. Not only did he lament the opioid crisis, but he set aside $3.25 billion of his money for treatment and other services in the state. And not only did he complain about corruption, he oversaw the arrest of more than 100 corrupt officials from both parties.
In a midterm year in which Democrats lost the House but still performed better than expected, Shapiro, who is set to take office on Jan. 17, was key to the victory of both Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden. In the states, he ruled every day of his race.
Former President Barack Obama told Shapiro directly that he is one of the 2022 generation Democrats who must have a say in the future of the party, according to people familiar with the matter. Renowned consultant James Carville called Shapiro’s campaign his best of 2022. He’s already being talked about by many Democrats as possibly the first Jewish president in the future.
When the Democrats start making plans for what’s next, they start thinking about what they stand for, not what they oppose in Trumpism. Now even a White House aide who raves about Biden’s accomplishments on par with Lyndon Johnson admits he still struggles to win over many voters. See the direct impact on their lives. While they are happy with how well the Democrats have done in the midterm elections, they see most of it as a rejection of the Republican Party and Trumpism.To keep the Biden re-election campaign and the Senate and take back the House in 2024. Efforts.
In a note last month, pollsters John Anzarone and Matt Hogan wrote that while the Republican Party “rightly” should be encouraged, the Democrats “have more chances for voters to support the party than pre-election polls suggest.” We have to be careful not to interpret the results as evidence of preference.”
From crowds at MAGA to Bernie Sanders rallies in Pennsylvania, voters interviewed shared a common sentiment that small groups are escaping what ordinary Americans could never do, and that politicians are trying to stop them. They often express sarcasm that they are trying to do something.
I wore the tight-rimmed glasses of Shapiro and studied the rhythm of Obama-style speech next to Democrat John Fetterman’s Carhartt shorts, tattoos and security guard beard. Few saw the governor-elect as someone with populist appeal, rather than the already iconic Pennsylvania senator. It was Shapiro who measured each step on the way to.
Shapiro was described as “sophisticated” in a focus group he conducted last year as he was preparing to launch, according to people familiar with the findings. Worried that it would lead him to “boredom” or to be cast aside as a career politician, the aide claimed $328 million in relief, restitution, penalties, and other payments his office earned. Stuffed stump speech full of references to examples or parts. 6+ years at work.
When Shapiro talked about climate change, he talked about getting affordable energy costs and about the fracking company he sued as Attorney General because pollution was endangering the health of Pennsylvanians. When he talked about student loans, he talked about $200 million in debt that was canceled after he sued a big lender. Just as he could bring up the massive investigation his office conducted into decades of sexual abuse in Catholic parishes across the state. It appeals to voters who don’t think much about politics, or who think little about voting Democrats.
“They don’t want to listen to you,” said Shapiro’s chief of staff. “They want to see what you can do.”
Since being elected attorney general in 2016, Shapiro and his team have made public that they have been a central part of the strategy, from holding press conferences to putting pressure on the giant state insurance companies. rice field. Working with women who were undergoing breast cancer treatment, launching a campaign to get supporters to write an open letter to the CEO they wanted, and victims of church abuse calling to tell their stories. I set up a hotline for
As Republicans across the country fueled crime scare throughout the midterm elections, Shapiro spoke of the 8,200 drug dealers he locked up in his six-year job. said the opiates it was selling were part of a crisis “caused by greed” and how he tracked down those companies with the power of his office.
“Look at his model: ‘What he’s saying is, people are safe and deserve to feel safe. We need a way to show results. And he does it.'”
Shapiro’s Republican candidate, Doug Mastriano, has raised only $7 million, has an account full of QAnon-friendly tweets, has been seen in photos in Confederate uniforms, and is a security guard. A man who claims to block reporters from entering and held an event to pay a consulting fee. On the anti-Semitic website Gab. But with Biden only narrowly winning in 2020, the swing state that Trump did four years ago did not guarantee Shapiro’s eventual victory.
In a moment of reflection during the campaign, Shapiro spoke about the “heaviness” he felt during the campaign, including his wife poking him in the chest and voters grabbing his arm and saying, “We have to win.” talked about In his campaign, he debated whether to feature a shot of Carapan in the opening video, which talks about coming home every Friday night to have dinner with his family (which he eventually did), and the old Jewish He often quoted teachings of the teachings. No one is required to complete the task, nor are we allowed to withhold it,” he said, feeling the weight both politically and personally.
Voters have ended up vetoing Republicans who refuse to vote in nearly every competitive midterm election around the country. But while Shapiro didn’t talk about the abstract wonders of democracy or voting rights, he detailed his 43 challenges to the 2020 vote count that he defeated in court.
He went on the offensive, mocking Mastriano for speaking of “good games” about freedom, saying that “true freedom” meant the freedom to choose the right to have an abortion, the freedom to not have a banned book, the freedom to live on the streets. The freedom not to feel targeted by a gun, and the freedom to have a job opportunity.
He spoke of the events of January 6, 2021, but the presence of Mastriano in the crowd outside the U.S. Capitol before the mob that stormed the building suggests he cares about what Pennsylvanians think. I just said I showed that I didn’t “respect” him enough to do so.
He never said more than a few words without a direct line to what he had already accomplished.
Part of Shapiro’s standard routine has always been that he doesn’t pay attention to national politics and doesn’t think much about what other Democrats outside of Pennsylvania do or say. One of his favorite lines during the campaign was that he focused on Washington County, just southwest of Pittsburgh, rather than Washington, DC.
That’s why other Democrats are wary of going after companies for fear they’ll be labeled as socialists, and why Biden is trying to profit from soaring gas prices. When asked about his sporadic attacks on the
“I have no frame of reference,” he said.
Shapiro Results: He set a record for having the most votes for a candidate for governor of Pennsylvania. As his campaign proudly pointed out, his win was so big that he could get there even if he didn’t get a single vote from Philadelphia and its suburbs, where Biden lost him by 22 points. In Washington County, where he played, Shapiro lost by only two points.
Because of him, the Senate race was leaning towards Fetterman, even as the candidate was sidelined by a stroke. He also helped his party secure his three seats in the House of Representatives, winning a narrow majority in the state House for the first time in over a decade.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper is the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association and a former state attorney general himself. “People remember it when you stand up for them.”
As Attorney General, Shapiro faced corny political jokes. “AG” actually means “aspiring governor”. Many people have jumped, but very few have succeeded.
Shapiro knows he has to adjust.
“These cases came to us when we were in the AG office,” Shapiro’s aide said. “Now we are in a position to push the agenda forward.”
They’re still trying to sort out what exactly the change in mentality means.
“It’s hard to accuse me of doing nothing,” Shapiro said. “I now feel responsible for what I have done, for taking such an approach in the AG office and being able to show that government can work.”
So far most Democrats can follow the Shapiro model.Members of Congress cannot attend grand juries. The president cannot negotiate legal settlements.
But with Shapiro and fellow Massachusetts Democratic Attorney General Maura Healy winning the gubernatorial race, other Democratic Attorneys General are preparing more.
Even multiple competing states have all Democratic Attorneys General re-elected in 2022, while Iowa is rapidly losing money and has its party in office in key swing states in Arizona.
Those and other state AGs will be individually or small-scale with more research expected to be published at scale soon, including more pharmaceutical inquiries, privacy and data protection, and online consumer fraud. Already moving in the group. Also currently rising in the list of targets: cryptocurrencies.
“It certainly works. It gets the attention of Corporate America. They know they have to fight us,” said Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford. “And voters appreciate and recognize that.”
