Pennsylvania Democrats give mixed response to idea of Harris as nominee

PITTSBURGH — President Joe Biden ’s withdrawal from his re-election race and his endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement was not met with as much enthusiasm among Pennsylvania Democrats as it was among party leaders in some other parts of the country.

Pennsylvania is arguably the most important swing state in the country. But while gushing endorsements for Harris came from the likes of Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington State, chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Pennsylvania party leaders sang a different tune.

Sen. John Fetterman, a fearless supporter of the current president, said he was unimpressed with the members of his own party who pushed Biden out, who then praised him extravagantly only after he withdrew.

“Spare me the soaring accolades from people with their fingerprints on the blades in our President’s back,” he said.

Warren was just one example of someone who posted on X that “Joe Biden’s presidency had been transformational” one day after she failed to give him a ringing endorsement to stay in the race, saying “he had a big decision to make.”

Fetterman wasn’t the only unhappy Democrat in Pennsylvania. One longtime Democratic voter, a union Democrat who has never voted Republican, said he felt, “Harris wasn’t up for the job, I hope it will be someone else, I don’t like how they pushed Joe out.”

He added he’s likely to still vote Democrat in November.

Paul Sracic, political science professor at Youngstown State University, said the initial reactions of the Congressional Black Caucus and of former First Couple Bill and Hillary Clinton in supporting Harris show that there was some planning before this happened.

“Even though there has been public questioning, including from AOC , as to whether Harris really has the support of Democratic leaders, it’s possible that Democrats have concluded that the worst case scenario is a divided party headed into the convention in Chicago,” he said.

Sracic, who also is a fellow at the Hudson Institute, said that no matter what the leaders want, for all intents and purposes, we are now looking at an open convention.

“The delegates are now completely unpledged,” he said. “The most interesting question is whether the so-called super delegates [party officials who are automatic delegates rather than elected in primaries] will be able to vote in the first round. The DNC rules don’t really speak to this situation, and can be interpreted to suit either argument.”

While elected Democrats, including Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro, spent the day sending out full support for Harris, Democrats here in Pennsylvania worry about her appeal in the state, especially in Western Pennsylvania where hydraulic fracking has been an economic game changer—something Harris adamantly opposes.

As a presidential candidate in 2020, Harris said in a televised CNN town hall that there was “no question I’m in favor banning fracking,” something she said if president she would do on day one in office. Former chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party T.J. Rooney said if you thought Hillary Clinton had problems connecting with the all-important smaller Pennsylvania counties in 2016, the ones such as Erie that ultimately cost her the election, Harris, because of her views on fossil fuels, will struggle even more so.

Rooney said her vulnerabilities have nothing to do with race. “Remember, Barack Obama won counties like Erie, Cambria, Elk, Luzerne and Northampton, nor does it have anything to do with gender, it is her electability in our state because of her world view,” he said.

Rooney said it shouldn’t be a rush to coronate her from his party. He would rather see North Carolina Rory Cooper take a shot at getting the nomination. “We should entertain all ideas before we stamp out their voices,” he said of other Democrats jumping in the race.

On the politics of the Keystone State, political science professor Jeff Brauer said Pennsylvania remains essential to a presidential victory of either party.

“Biden has always had close ties to Pennsylvania, especially with his hometown of Scranton and First Lady Jill Biden considering herself a Philadelphian,” he said, adding, “without Biden on the ticket, the chances for Democrats in this all-critical state certainly diminish.”

Brauer said if Harris is chosen, this state is in flux for Democrats, more so than it was before the debate and the assassination attempt on Trump here, “Many in Pennsylvania, which is generally a moderate state, will find her to be too liberal,” he said.

Which means undoubtedly, her vice-presidential pick then will become very important electorally, and he points to Shapiro as an excellent selection in this regard.

In a recent hypothetical New York Times/Sienna poll taken between July 9 and July 11, Harris trailed Trump by one percentage point in Pennsylvania. Trump won the state narrowly in 2016, a and Biden won it narrowly in 2020.

Sracic said as the days go on and hopefully her positions are fully vetted by the press her positions on Gaza and fracking could very much hurt her in Pennsylvania and other Rust Belt Great Lake States.

Harris has been to the left of Biden on many things including her stance on Israel where she has been a tougher critic. Her strident stance on abortion in Pennsylvania is a moot point, though; the state has an ironclad 23-week abortion access that will not be overturned by Shapiro, a Democrat, nor the state House, which is a Democrat majority. Thus, running on Republicans taking abortion access away in this state is something that will not happen.

Brauer said despite the chaotic politics of this for the Democrats, this is an historic moment first because only a half dozen incumbent presidents before Biden have decided not to run for a second term. The last one to do that he said was LBJ in 1968, “That also was the last time there was truly an open convention after the assassination of the Democratic front-runner, Robert F Kennedy,” he said.

The Democrats ended up selecting then vice president Hubert Humphrey, who ended up losing to former Republican vice president Richard Nixon. Since then Brauer said both parties have required the delegates to be bound to the winner of their states’ primaries, which had prevented any real, open conventions since (except for a tight Republican race in 1976).

“However, this Democratic convention in August will in essence be an open convention … making this a truly historical moment.”

Sracic said it will be very difficult for Kamala Harris, as a sitting VP, to separate herself from the Biden administration, which was already deeply unpopular. “Now, Biden is essentially the lamest of lame ducks, and Harris will be tied to the disarray that may follow.”