NEW ALEXANDRIA, Pa. — Within seconds of being egged-on to see if he had what it takes to be an operator apprentice in the oil and gas industry, Gov. Josh Shapiro jumped into one of the excavators and attempted to do the first test in learning how to do precision removal in one of these clunky machines — taking a soccer ball out of a child’s hard plastic swimming pool.

On paper that might sound easy, even comical. It really isn’t, especially when you’re surrounded by a sea of backhoes, bulldozers, graders, cranes, rollers — and all the men and women who know how to operate them.

Mr. Shapiro got it on the first try.

From the leadership on down to the journeymen and apprentices here at the Western Pennsylvania Operating Engineers Joint Apprenticeship and Training Program in Salem Township watching Mr. Shapiro handle the excavator, the governor got a nod of approval and even a little applause.

Neil Marisa, the administrator of the facility, said that respect had a lot to do with one thing: “He showed up.”

Shapiro showed up

Mr. Shapiro told the apprentices in their classrooms that day — before he headed out to the instructional field with them — “Look, I know a lot of you probably didn’t vote for me, and that’s okay. I’m here today to see what you do and how your skills will, in turn, make your community and the state more prosperous.”

In an interview with the Post-Gazette at the training center, Mr. Shapiro said getting out of Harrisburg and into the communities is his lifeline to being a good governor. “I’ve got a job to do every single day, and the best way I can do my job — sometimes — is being in the Capital,” he said.

“But most of the time, it’s being out, talking to people, engaging them, learning from them, seeing with my own eyes the kind of work they do, so that when I get a policy passed in Harrisburg or a budget passed, that the dollars, the initiative, the bill language actually ties to the need out in the community.”

He stressed twice: “I think that’s really important.”

The most visual moment Mr. Shapiro has had in “showing up” happened June 11, when an elevated section of I-95 — one of the most crucial supply chain arteries in the Mid-Atlantic — collapsed after a tractor trailer flipped and caught fire.

Within hours, he was there; within days, he unveiled a temporary fix that reopened the six lanes to traffic in remarkable time — and he had the whole project livestreamed for transparency and accountability.

Gainey, Trump, Biden

There is no denying we live in challenging times. Our economic well-being is so dire that 61 percent of Americans are living pay check to pay check, with many of them unable to handle a $1,000 medical emergency. Our homelessness rate is at a record high, and drug overdose rates once again increased last year.

One would think that those leading us — both locally and nationally — would understand how important it is to show the people you serve your face, your empathy, and let them know you hear them.

Locally, here in Pittsburgh, it’s hard to know where Mayor Ed Gainey has been because he shockingly keeps no public schedule. An extended look at his social media page shows he is very present at political events, or to tour the aftermath of a crisis, and not much more.

Nationally, the two front-runners for their party’s presidential nomination — Democrat Joe Biden and Republican former president Donald Trump — have shown little interest in getting down into the scrum with real people. When either man does talk to regular people, Mr. Biden spends most of his oxygen telling everyone how great things are, and Trump spends all of his time talking about revenge.

Tony Cucolo, a retired U.S. Army major general and the former Army War College commandant who now develops leadership programs for the elite school, said one of first lessons taught to him by a sergeant in the Army when he was a second lieutenant was “If you are not there, you don’t care.”

“The attitude of the soldier is if the leader is not enduring and sharing hardship with them, if you are not there, you don’t care. When things are the ugliest, when things are the most difficult, the most dangerous, the leader must be present, must be physically there,” he said.

Mr. Cucolo pointed to Teddy Roosevelt. “What did he do when he was the New York City police commissioner? What did he do? He went walking the streets after midnight in the places where there were the most complaints about crime,” he said.

Bartolotta gets it

Camera Bartolotta is one of the elected officials who “gets it.” She not only tirelessly shows up in her state senate district, she also goes to places where Republicans are rarely seen, like the Pittsburgh Labor Day Parade last week. There the Washington County Republican ran into Mr. Shapiro, and the two shared an amicable ten-minute conversation.

“We don’t agree on a lot of things,” she said, laughing, “but I will give him credit for understanding the importance of getting out there and listening to people,” she said.

The first year Ms. Bartolotta ran, she said, she personally knocked on 9,000 doors. She credits that for her victory over decades-long incumbent Democrat Tim Solobay, who had forgotten that personal touch.

Nine years later, she’s still knocking on doors — and still listening. Her public schedule is filled, from honoring a new Eagle Scout, to school openings, to showing up when a long-time volunteer in the community is being recognized.

“It is important to show up and listen to the people who are directly affected by lack of legislation or by legislation that’s harmful,” she said. “I always try to go directly to those affected, by whatever the topic is. And that — to me — is the most meaningful.”

Mr. Cucolo said the mark of a good leader is being there, no matter what. “When it is the most uncomfortable, the most difficult, you must physically go there and check in and see and be with the people who placed you in office and share their hardship. That is the definition of an effective leader.”

Against the headwinds

Mr. Shapiro even shows up when he is facing political headwinds, like the day after signing the $45.5 billion state budget that failed to provide a state-funded private school voucher program — a deep disappointment to voters on the right and some in the middle, who had hinged their support for him on this issue — when he went to Beaver County to announce more investments in broadband.

Mr. Shapiro shrugs: “I’m still as supportive of the initiative as I was before. I think children deserve that opportunity, and I’m going to do everything in my power to find consensus between the Senate Republicans who lead the Senate, the House Democrats who lead the house,” he said.

He smiles. “No matter what, you still have to show up.”

North Side native Salena Zito is a national political reporter for The Washington Examiner, a New York Post columnist and co-author of “The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics”: zito.salena@gmail.com.

First Published: September 10, 2023, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: September 10, 2023, 8:39 p.m.