The first name that popped out of UAW president Shawn Fain’s mouth was not the one being floated as the likely pick for Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris as her 2024 running mate. In fact, he had tough words of criticism for the Pennsylvania governor whose name sits atop the vice presidential shortlist. Recall that just a few days back, an aide for the Atlanta mayor accidentally leaked a congrats social media post/video for Governor Josh Shapiro as the vice presidential pick. There were also some other inconvenient revelations, or whispers of them, out in the ether.
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During an interview with CBS News’ “Face The Nation” on Sunday, Fain was asked who from the six potential names out there, which include four governors, a senator, and a cabinet secretary, would be the labor union’s “favorite…[and] the best for organized labor”.
After a notable moment of dead air, Fain explained that the UAW has “really broken down these candidates, looked at them.”
Who is the top favorite? Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, who, the union organizer pointed out, has walked the picket line with UAW, like lame duck Pres. Biden. He also gushed about the Bluegrass state progressive governor’s ability to win reelection in a “traditionally” red state:
He’s been with us through every bit of our walk, and he’s won in a state that [former Senate Majority Leader, GOP Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell is from. It’s been a red state traditionally. He’s won twice there.
…
I believe a Harris-Beshear ticket would be unbeatable.
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Fain also singled out radical socialist Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota as a prime pick, then added the line he knows needs to be said, that this is “Harris’ decision.”
When prompted by guest host Ed O’Keefe, he took issue with two others–one of them, far-leftist Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, for his failure to toe the line on a recent Dem priority on a bill “to provide more legal protections for unions, makes it easier for people to unionize.”
But Fain reserved his greatest ire for Shapiro, with a very helpful push by O’Keefe to list any policies or opinions that conflict with Big Labor (including the teachers union), laying into the swing state governor’s support for school choice and vouchers with an unprompted attack on Republicans and the ability for parents to get their children into quality schools.
The UAW head’s remarks come in the wake of Pennsylvania Democrat Senator Fetterman’s harsh take on Dems tapping his own state’s Dem governor, as my colleague Nick Arama wrote earlier:
But now there’s a new fascinating report that a big name who has cause to know things about Pennsylvania isn’t very happy with the thought of Shapiro and is warning the Harris people about him.
Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman is concerned about the possibility that Vice President Kamala Harris might choose his state’s governor, Josh Shapiro, as her running mate, and his advisers have privately relayed those worries to Harris’ team, according to three people familiar with the conversations.
Fetterman’s advisers suggested to Harris’ team that the senator believes that Shapiro is excessively focused on his own personal ambitions. His reservations about Shapiro reflect a long-running rivalry between the two ambitious Democrats, who have risen on parallel tracks in a politically crucial state.
Politico’s report suggests a scramble going on behind the scenes over the question of Shapiro — “furious efforts by both supporters and critics of Shapiro to influence” Harris, with “other candidates’ backers and opponents” joining in the lobbying.
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We’ll keep you posted on where this mess all ends up, including on Tuesday, when Harris is expected to make her VP announcement in Philadelphia.