Shapiro for President? He Should Try to Be a Governor First.

In The Wall Street Journal, Joseph Epstein recently admitted to daydreaming about Gov. Josh Shapiro as a presidential candidate. He claims the Pennsylvania governor is “thoughtful, scandal-free, honorable” and doesn’t “diddle away his days posting dopey messages online.”

Epstein isn’t alone. There is another individual who fantasizes about a Josh Shapiro presidency, often at the expense of more-pressing responsibilities. His name is Josh Shapiro. And he seems more interested in measuring drapes at Pennsylvania Avenue than governing Pennsylvania.

In fact, our governor is so invested in becoming the next president that he forces Pennsylvania taxpayers to subsidize his shadow campaign. Since taking office, Shapiro has doubled the size of his PR team, fueling an exhaustive glut of cringy TikTok videos and other “dopey messages” on social media—all geared up to promote the governor and his national ambitions.

All the while, his real-world obligations have taken a back seat. Pennsylvania is the only state without a budget—a legislative impasse that has already surpassed 100 days. The stalemate began with the governor proposing a budget with more than $7 billion in deficit spending—an irony lost on Shapiro when he bragged on national television about living in “the real world, where we have to balance budgets.”

This is part and parcel for the governor. Since becoming governor, Shapiro has overseen three budget negotiations—all three of which have been late. Contrary to his “get s— done” mantra, he was the least productive governor in Pennsylvania history.

Also, Epstein may want to reevaluate his claim about a “scandal-free” Shapiro. Googling “Shapiro deleted emails” will dispel that assertion quickly.

Before he even considers a presidential campaign, Shapiro must first finish the job that Pennsylvanians elected him to do. Otherwise, all those national ambitions will be nothing but a dream.