The Intercept reports:

[I]t’s … worth focusing on what Walz is not, said James Zogby, especially around the war on Gaza and pro-Palestinian protests in the U.S. Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute, contrasted Walz with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was widely reported to be the other frontrunner for Harris’s running mate, and believes that rejecting Shapiro in favor of Walz bodes well for Harris’s approach to the world.

“What we have is somebody who will do no harm, who is not going to step on the fact that the vice president is trying to turn a corner,” Zogby told The Intercept. “This is not going to be the policy of Joe Biden — she’s made that clear in a number of ways, even though she can’t break from her boss. But we have every indication that she is going to turn a corner, and [Walz] does not impede that corner turn — Shapiro on the other hand would have become an issue.”

Shapiro has received criticism from the progressive wing in the party for his aggressive responses to campus protesters who were advocating for schools to divest from Israel. In some cases, he aligned with Republicans in Congress who were calling for a crackdown on student protesters. Shapiro has also said he would sign a state bill that would withhold state funding to any institution that boycotts or divests from Israel. The Philadelphia and Pittsburgh chapters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations wrote a pointed letter to Shapiro for failure “to recognize the structural root causes of the conflict” and to “intentionally ignore the civilian loss of life in Gaza” soon after the war began.

Walz, who has the support of prominent progressive members from his state, Rep. Ilhan Omar and Attorney General Keith Ellison, showed a softer approach to protesters critical of Israel’s war that aligns more with Harris, Zogby noted. [Continue reading…]