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Guest Essay

By Mark Penn

Mr. Penn was a pollster and an adviser to President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton from 1995 to 2008. He is chairman of the Harris Poll and chief executive of Stagwell Inc.

Vice President Kamala Harris has one overriding weakness as a candidate for president — she is perceived as being to the left of Joe Biden. Ms. Harris has criticized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, supported single-payer health care and even praised the “defund the police” movement. More recently, opponents have blamed her for what they see as a too-porous southern border.

Ms. Harris will not win Electoral College swing states and the presidency unless she convinces voters that her administration will share the sort of centrist policies and leadership that were essential to the victories of Mr. Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. And an emphatic and persuasive remedy to that problem would be to pick Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania as her running mate.

Mr. Shapiro, who is unpopular with many progressives over energy policy, school choice and other issues, would send a signal that Ms. Harris is not captive to the left and that she puts experience ahead of ideology. Choosing him would add an experienced governor from a swing state who could appeal to many moderate Democrats, independents and some Nikki Haley voters on a multitude of key issues. He would provide balance to the ticket and underscore that there is a place for moderates in today’s Democratic Party.

For those who look at politics as a mosaic of identities, Mr. Shapiro would also reassure Jewish voters — long a key part of winning Democratic voter coalitions — at a time when many of them see hostility and antisemitism coming from some in the far left of the party. Now, some pundits and analysts of presidents and their running mates will wonder if adding an observant Jew to a ticket headed by a Black woman is a ticket to nowhere. But the elections of Mr.........

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