The Speech that made Josh Shapiro a presidential contender

In 2023, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has had a meteoric rise in popularity like no other Democrat in recent years since Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with her run in 2018. The former Montgomery County Commissioner and attorney general has hit the ground running in his first year in office.

Within two weeks, he mobilized state and federal authorities to bring drivers back to their commutes on Interstate 95 after a bridge collapse in Northeast Philadelphia on June 11, 2023.

In September he enacted automatic voter registration in the commonwealth, a move that is sure to bolster turnout in this swing state as the 2024 presidential election looms. This action builds on his prior work as attorney general, where he was most known for defending Pennsylvania against claims of voter fraud during the 2020 election.

Most Americans are focused on these recent victories and his ability to toe the line between moderate and progressive Democrats as merits for a future White House run. While these are notable elements of his political prowess, I believe that his rhetorical skills will make him a formidable candidate.

Most presidential primary nominations are won based on the following three factors: Name ID, electability, and public speaking.

Governor Shapiro has built up name ID with his policy wins and through President Biden visiting the Keystone state often. His electability cannot be in question after his commanding 14-point victory in last year’s race against Trump-backed state senator Doug Mastriano.

Public speaking and rhetorical skills are undervalued traits in presidential campaigns but they were a notable part of former President Obama’s legacy and it carried candidates like Pete Buttigieg to the later stages of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.

Oscar Lopez meeting then Attorney General Josh Shapiro at a PA Democratic Party Dinner in 2022.

I saw Shapiro work his retail politics skills up close when he visited my neighborhood in the spring of 2022. I was working with my state representative, Donna Bullock, and she was giving the gubernatorial candidate a tour of the businesses on Girard Avenue in Brewerytown. He proved to be able to connect with people one-on-one but a moment later in the campaign showed how is capable of motivating thousands.

Just two days before the general election, on November 6, 2022, Shapiro and major players in Democratic politics held a get-out-the-vote campaign rally at Temple University’s Liacouras Center.

Despite heavy hitters like PA House Majority leader Joanna McClinton, former president Obama, and President Biden being in the lineup, the Montgomery County politician stood out for his message. I have titled that moment the “Real Freedom” Speech.

Click here to watch his rally!

The room felt electric and I remember Shapiro having to follow President Biden’s speech and coming out to “The Fighter” by Gym Class Heroes. No tie, no nerves, and no missed opportunity.

Despite his decades of work in politics he did not come across as out of touch and started his speech by trying to relate to the crowd.

“We are blessed with four amazing children. Their names are Sophia, Jonnah, Max, and Ruben. I look in their eyes every day and I worry. I worry about their planet, I worry about their safety, I worry (and moms and dads you’ll understand this) I worry that we brought our children into at a time where maybe just maybe, they have fewer opportunities than the world I was born into 49 years ago”

In this line, he shows the college students in the crowd that he understands their lingering sense of doom from his role as father. To the older people in attendance, who will be the main bloc voting for him, he comes across as empathetic and a man who is serious about his family values.

Shapiro later inserted policy goals in relation to education by voicing his criticism of standardized testing and hoped to bring more vocational-technical training to Pennsylvania schools.

He then brilliantly bridged public education and public safety when stating that the well-being of the child does not stop with a well-funded, but must include a safe commute and community. This allowed him to make his pitch for community policing and sensitivity training.

The two policy matters were connected again when the gubernatorial candidate backed his promises up with his track record as attorney general. This includes going after private student loan companies and big pharmaceutical companies for their role in local drug violence.

The cornerstone of this speech is his definition of the term “Real Freedom”

The lead-up to this segment was going after Doug Mastriano for his extreme pro-life stance and being a 2020 voting fraud conspiracy theorist who was at the January 6th Capitol riot.

“This guy [Mastriano] loves to talk a good game about freedom, right? Let me tell you something. It’s not freedom to tell women what to do with their bodies. That’s not freedom. It’s not freedom to tell our children what books they can read. It’s not freedom when he gets to decide who you are allowed to marry. I say love is love. It’s not freedom to say you’re allowed to work a 40-hour work week, but you can’t be a member of a union. That’s not freedom. And it sure as hell isn’t freedom to say you can go vote, but he gets to pick the winner. That’s not freedom.”

Here Shapiro was able to call Mastriano, and other GOP politicians, hypocrites for preaching that they are the party of freedom or civil liberties yet they use it selectively. The main times Republicans act like freedom advocates lately is when they talk about gun ownership and parental education.

Through his repetition, the Democrat was able to highlight this while touching on recent events and culture war issues. Mentioning abortion after the Dobbs decision, voting rights following the right-wing intimidation at the polls, and LGBTQ+ rights and liberal education after conservative curriculum censorship movements respectively.

He later countered by saying that his party, mainly himself, are the true proponents of freedom.

“Let me tell you what real freedom is. Real Freedom is when you see that young child in North Philly and you see the potential in her so you invest in her public school. That’s real freedom. Real freedom comes when we invest in that young child’s neighborhood to make sure it’s safe so she gets to her 18th birthday. That’s real freedom. Real freedom comes when we bring vo-tech to her school and open up her eyes to the possibility of being a welder. We sent her to a union apprenticeship program and we believed in her, so she started a small business right here in North Philadelphia. That’s real freedom. Real freedom comes when she hires a whole bunch of people who were never gonna have a shot before. They go on to marry the people they love, worship when they want, live in a community that is safe, live in a place that respects them. That is real freedom and that is what is on the ballot right now.”

Beyond continuing to use repetition to draw us in, Shapiro made the real freedom argument stand out more than the Republican hypocrisy segment because he invoked storytelling in this part. One could easily follow the life journey that many could experience through the implementation of his vision for the Commonwealth.

After this moment, I remember looking over at my girlfriend and saying “That was a presidential speech right there”

With those rhetorical skills, Shapiro is prepared to debate the MAGA Republicans of today like Donald Trump, or the right-wing populist of future cycles like Vivek Ramaswamy. It is only a matter of time to see what his next move is.