海角大神

Reporters packed the room Thursday for a Monitor Breakfast event with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. And there were plenty of national issues to discuss 鈥� immigration raids, political violence, rising antisemitism.

But when a reporter introduced herself as having 鈥淧ittsburgh roots,鈥� Governor Shapiro couldn鈥檛 resist going local.

鈥淕reat, another Yinzer!鈥� he said, using Pittsburgh slang for a city resident. 鈥淎re you still a Steelers fan?鈥�

Yes, she assured him. 鈥淪tillers,鈥� Mr. Shapiro threw in, again shifting to Pittsburghese. (He鈥檚 from Philadelphia, but is apparently bilingual.)

The governor is on a book tour, promoting his memoir, 鈥淲here We Keep the Light.鈥� The book paints a self-portrait of a man who鈥檚 all about his family, his Jewish faith, and 鈥済etting stuff done.鈥�

But for the media, the interest is all about 2028 and the widely held assumption that Mr. Shapiro, a Democrat, will run for president. At a time of deep national division, he prides himself on his ability to work across the aisle.

Still, ask Mr. Shapiro straight up if he鈥檚 running, as the reporter from Pittsburgh did, and he demurs. Because he has to. He鈥檚 up for reelection this November, and while he鈥檚 strongly favored to win, the midterm elections are on a razor鈥檚 edge 鈥� both for control of the U.S. Congress and his state legislature. Pennsylvania is the nation鈥檚 biggest swing state, and he enjoys

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we should be thinking about anything other than curtailing the chaos, the cruelty, and the corruption of this administration,鈥� Mr. Shapiro says, as quoted in

But the governor鈥檚 book did make waves earlier this month, pre-release, when a reporter got an advance copy and highlighted the controversy over his vetting by Kamala Harris鈥檚 team for the vice-presidency in 2024. Mr. Shapiro expressed upset over this question: 鈥淗ave you ever been an agent for the Israeli government?鈥�

In the book, Mr. Shapiro cries antisemitism. The issue of vetting came up last week in with another prominent Jewish Democrat, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Mr. Emanuel expressed sympathy with both sides, saying the question was 鈥渘ot artful, but you have to ask.鈥� Yet another top Jewish Democrat, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, also defended the process as 鈥渢ough鈥� but necessary.

Notably, all three men are widely viewed as eyeing the presidency. And thus the issue of rising antisemitism could be a dominant theme in 2028. Indeed, the night before our roundtable with Mr. Shapiro, a motorist rammed his car multiple times into a major Jewish institution, the Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters, in Brooklyn, New York. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

In fact, I told Mr. Shapiro after our event had ended, I have personally experienced antisemitism. I have received nasty emails from people who assume I鈥檓 Jewish, I said. 鈥淟ovely, just forward them to me,鈥� Mr. Shapiro responded.

On a lighter note, in our post-roundtable chit-chat, we got back to the subject of football. The night before, while doing a book event in Boston, Mr. Shapiro mentioned visiting with Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots who is also working to fight antisemitism. My ears perked up.

鈥淚鈥檓 so sorry,鈥� I said, 鈥渂ut I鈥檓 from Boston. Go Pats!鈥�

After several bad years, the Patriots are back in the Super Bowl. Mr. Shapiro was gracious, given that his hometown Philadelphia Eagles, who won the Super Bowl last year, won鈥檛 repeat.

鈥淚 lived through those lean years with the birds, with the Eagles,鈥� the governor said, 鈥渁nd so it鈥檚 kind of neat to see them [the Patriots] as good as they are.鈥�