Pennsylvania
Don’t Worry, Pennsylvania Will Be Perfectly Fine With Tim Walz
Kamala Harris’ first appearance with her vice presidential pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz—which will be held in front of a crowd in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening—was scheduled last week, long before she made the announcement that she was adding Walz to the ticket and, if reporting is to be believed, before she even made the decision to bring Walz on.
Because of the location of the first rally—and because Pennsylvania is such a crucial battleground state—there was a lot of speculation that these clues all added up to a vice presidential slot for Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. He was already a front-runner: A rising star in the Democratic Party with high approval ratings in his state, Shapiro could have possibly guaranteed a win for Democrats come November in the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
But Shapiro isn’t the only politician capable of exciting Pennsylvanians.
Let me be clear: Pennsylvania is incredibly important in presidential elections, with its 19 electoral votes and wide swath of residents who seemingly represent the rich, diverse makeup of the country as a whole. We know how to pick a winner, and we know a winner when we see one. But though Pennsylvania has voted for the winner of the presidential election in 48 of 59 elections, those winners have, historically … not been from here.
It’s been 144 years since a true Pennsylvanian was in any slot on a presidential ticket; 163 years since Pennsylvania had a president in the White House (James Buchanan); and 175 years since a Pennsylvanian was VP (George Dallas, vice president to James Polk).
Some may argue (as one of my fellow Slatesters attempted to argue) that Joe Biden—good ol’ Scranton Joe—should make the cut here. To that I say: Biden gets a fat asterisk on his Pennsylvania roots. From the age of 10, Biden lived in Delaware. He clerked at a Wilmington law firm. He was elected to represent the people of Delaware. Sure, he may occasionally rep the Philadelphia Phillies, but show me a professional Delaware sports team. He doesn’t really have much of a choice.
Yes, Philadelphians and Pennsylvanians will almost always go to bat for one their own—one of the big upsides for Harris if she chose Shapiro. Just look at what happened with Gritty. Philadelphians were … less than enthused about the new mascot for our city’s NHL team. But the moment other people started to bad-mouth Gritty, talking about how terrifying, creepy, and—dare I say—weird the Flyers’ orange, googly-eyed mascot was, we changed our tune and fast.
That type of loyalty isn’t inherited, it’s earned. You have to prove that you know what it takes to be one of us. Gritty didn’t back away from the criticism, Gritty told the critics (namely the Pittsburgh Penguins’ mascot) to sleep with one eye open.
It’s not a stretch to say Walz embodies this same spirit.
He has endeared many potential voters (and much of the internet) with his unfiltered, tell-it-like-it-is talking points. The stories of his time as a high school teacher and football coach who was also the adviser for the school’s gay-straight alliance prove his humanity. He has a dog who tends to get into some mischief. He has successfully branded his enemies as the weird ones. He drinks Diet Mountain Dew.
In other words, Walz looks and acts like a lot of Pennsylvanians. He doesn’t need to be from here to get the voters riled up, just as any other major-party ticket hasn’t relied on a candidate from the Commonwealth for nearly 150 years to get the PA vote. The stakes are high; democracy hangs in the balance. But Harris may have chosen the perfect running mate—with Big Gritty Energy to boot—to get Pennsylvanians to the polls.
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(WHTM) — Legislation is in the works for a statewide warning system to locate missing children with autism.
State Rep. Robert Leadbeter (R-Columbia County) announced the formal introduction of a bill to create a “Purple Alert” system. It would quickly notify police and community members when a child with autism, or other cognitive issues, is missing.
His bill is called “Aiden’s Law,” named for a young boy in Columbia County, who disappeared earlier this year and drowned in the Susquehanna River. Leadbeter said a “Purple Alert” system would fill a gap in Pennsylvania.
“So, individuals with cognitive disabilities are able to then, if they go missing, have an alert go out to law enforcement organizations that work directly with them and that’ll save time expand resources, and ideally result in a safe return home for the missing individual,” Leadbeter said.
In this bill, the system would mirror others like Amber Alerts for missing children in danger and Silver Alerts for missing seniors.
A Bethlehem man is among the first to be sentenced under a Pennsylvania law passed last year, making it a crime to possess AI-generated child sex abuse material.
On Monday, Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas Judge Kristie M. Marks sentenced 35-year-old Adam Erdman to two years, four months to 10 years.
Erdman in September pleaded guilty to felony possessing child sex abuse material. He faced a possible sentence of 5 to 10 years in prison.
Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan announced the sentencing in a news conference Monday afternoon. The DA credited U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, who introduced the new legislation and state Sen. Tracy Pennycuick, who championed the final version of the law last year.
“Before this law was passed, the use of AI to generate child sexual abuse materials went unpunished,” Holihan said. “Prosecutors like me need legislation like this to arrest and convict the criminals who use evolving technology to victimize others.”
Macungie-based attorney Michael Ira Stump, representing Erdman, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Tuesday morning.
Bethlehem police on March 31 were called by Erdman’s estranged wife, who reported finding three AI-generated nude images of juvenile girls on his personal computer.
Prosecutors said Erdman downloaded photos of the children on vacation from their parent’s social media account, and then used artificial intelligence photo-editing software to make the children appear naked.
Erdman was charged on April 17.
The case was investigated by Bethlehem Police Det. Stephen Ewald and was prosecuted by Lehigh County Senior Deputy District Attorney Sarah K. Heimbach.
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