2028 Presidential Election

The Governor’s Endorsement of Crooksy is all About 2028 Politics

/ Rich Wilkins / 1 Comment
Josh Shapiro endorsed Bob “Crooksy” Brooks for Congress yesterday. The comments on the article’s Facebook page were brutal. I announced this a while back, I guess the Governor just wanted to put it out there at a time of year when less people were paying attention. I wonder why, why, why, why, why, and why he would want to do that?

If Bob Brooks is the nominee of the Democratic Party in PA-7, Republicans will swamp him with negative ads defining him as a deadbeat who took money from his mother-in-law and expresses racist beliefs on social media. In any normal time, I’d say that’s disqualifying, but there are a lot of people who would vote for O.J. Simpson if he ran on their party’s ticket right now. Even so, Crooksy is really the only candidate with a strong general election negative to run against, and Republicans are open that they feel most confident they can beat him. They’ll use his personal baggage, his endorsement from Bernie Sanders and other radical left wingers, and even negatives from his career that they have waiting to use. Democrats can’t afford that. Ryan Crosswell is completely unacceptable, but probably can win a general election, if you’re willing to vote for a Republican. There are three Democrats actually from the Lehigh Valley who are Democrats running in this race. We never needed the DCCC to mess this race up with this guy, but sure enough, it happened.

There’s absolutely no evidence that Crooksy brings anything to the table as a candidate, but that’s not what this is about. He raised $300k last quarter? So did like everyone across the river in NJ-7. Any candidate that gets nominated will raise plenty in the general election, and have PACs you’ve never heard of spending on their behalf. All that any of these folks endorsing him cares about is, he is the President of the IAFF’s Pennsylvania organization and the IAFF is really damn good at politics. When the IAFF backs a candidate for President, that candidate usually wins the Democratic nomination, at a minimum. The Governor wants the IAFF to support him in future campaigns, such as for Governor in 2026 and for President in 2028, and let’s be honest, one is more critical right now than the other. It’s very clear this is why this endorsement is happening, and anyone saying otherwise is a liar. Let’s be honest here, otherwise there’s no other reason to step into a competitive primary. Months ago, everyone claimed they would stay out. Plenty of people have appealed to the Governor directly and his insiders, pleading with them to not endorse this guy. None of that mattered, because this isn’t about this race. It’s about 2028.

I know this is an inconvenient truth to publish, but it’s a truth nonetheless. If I was worried about backlash for saying it, I wouldn’t have started in on Crooksy. I knew this from the start and made the decision on my own to write it. I’ve brought the receipts since day one. Frankly, I haven’t wrote the worst stuff, and probably won’t. Unions and elected officials are being pressured from the good ole’ boys club in Harrisburg to fall in line, to crush a primary here. I’m not invested enough in anyone’s success to play that game.

Temper, Temper…

/ Rich Wilkins / Leave a comment

Look, we all know that both Josh Shapiro and Kamala Harris have their eyes on the 2028 Presidential race. I don’t expect them to be friends, and far from me to sit here and tell people to be nice in a political race. So I’m kinda good with them going at it a bit. A bit is the key here. Sounds like she really pissed off the Governor.

During an interview with The Atlantic author, Shapiro’s demeanor clearly shifted when Alberta said that Harris had “taken some shots at him” in her book.

The writer shared with Shapiro that Harris had “accused him, in essence, of measuring the drapes, even inquiring about featuring Pennsylvania artists in the vice-presidential residence; of insisting ‘that he would want to be in the room for every decision’ Harris might make; and, more generally, of hijacking the conversation when she interviewed him for the job, to the point where she reminded him that he would not be co-president.”

His guard down, Shapiro blurted out about the art, “She wrote that in her book? That’s complete and utter bullshit.”

“I can tell you that her accounts are just blatant lies.”

He defended his actions during the interview with the former California attorney general who he had known for more than 20 years.

“I did ask a bunch of questions,” he told Alberta. “Wouldn’t you ask questions if someone was talking to you about forming a partnership and working together?”

Shapiro has a well-known reputation as ambitious. But Harris seemed to portray him in other ways – “selfish, petty, and monomaniacally ambitious.”

Asked if he felt betrayed by Harris, Shapiro dropped the gloves.

“I mean, she’s trying to sell books and cover her ass,” said to Alberta.

According to the author, there was a long pause.

“I shouldn’t say ‘cover her ass.’ I think that’s not appropriate,” Shapiro said. His tone was suddenly collected. “She’s trying to sell books. Period.”

Gosh damn, bro. I kind of appreciate the honesty, Shapiro was being honest when he said “cover her ass”- he thinks she didn’t run a great campaign, and I’m sure one of her bad decisions was picking Walz over him, in his eyes. Hey, he’s entitled to feel that, and maybe, just maybe, there’s some truth to that. He’s probably better off though having not been on the ticket, since they probably would have lost anyway. On the other hand, I mean he is hyper ambitious. I’m not saying that as though it makes him somehow worse than her, Walz, or anyone else at that level of politics. He’s always been ambitious and eyeing the next step though, since he reached the State House. Maybe nobody is lying here. “Utter bullshit” and “blatant lies” is pretty strong language from a guy who usually acts like he’s totally unbothered.

I don’t see how the Governor can get nominated, in no small part because I don’t see where he wins an early primary, whether we stay with South Carolina first or come to our senses and keep it in the opening four, but not first. He’s not winning South Carolina or Iowa, seriously. The question is though, is she? There’s a lot of goodwill towards her in the party, but do we really think things will be different in 2028? Is dumping on the people you didn’t pick for VP helping that?

Y’all know I like a good fight though.