Politically pointed and heavy on his Jewish faith, the book already has Democrats talking.
I first interviewed Josh Shapiro four years ago, during his run for governor of Pennsylvania.
Back then, he was a relatively little-known state attorney general. Now, he is seen as one of his party’s top potential presidential candidates, a popular governor of a major battleground state who is following a time-honored tradition for ambitious politicians: releasing an introductory memoir. (Gov. Gavin Newsom of California has one coming out next month, too.)
In his new book, “Where We Keep the Light: Stories From a Life of Service,” Shapiro blends discussion of faith, fatherhood and marriage with political talk, stories from his career and accounts of how he experienced major recent events. That includes discussion of the arson attack on the governor’s residence, how he built a relationship with Barack Obama, the collapse of the Biden campaign and the grueling process of being on Kamala Harris’s vice-presidential shortlist.
Here are some takeaways from a book that has already gotten Democrats talking, even as Shapiro insists he’s focused on re-election and the midterms.
The vice-presidential vetting process got ugly.
Digs at his wife’s wardrobe. A sharp focus on Israel. A strange interlude spent waiting at an apartment after speaking with Harris.
Vice-presidential vetting is notoriously challenging and invasive — but Shapiro describes a remarkably contentious ordeal. As we scooped last week, Shapiro wrote that he was asked if he had ever been an agent of the Israeli government, a question he found deeply off-putting.
“I said, ‘Of course not,’” Shapiro, who is Jewish, later said on “CBS Sunday Morning.” “I love this country. And for someone to question that, for someone to question my loyalty, particularly as someone who is as open about his faith as he is, was offensive to me.”