Bret Stephens: Hi, Gail. I have to make a confession: Kamala Harris had a much stronger start than I expected. She appears competent, in command and she is connecting to voters — everything she wasn’t when she ran for president five years ago. I gather you’re not surprised ….

Gail Collins: Bret! Does that mean you’re going to vote for her? I was planning on torturing you until you joined the team.

Bret: I’m not there yet, though the rumored choice of Josh Shapiro, the Pennsylvania governor, as her running mate would go far to reassure me about a Harris administration. What do you think?

Gail: Certainly seems to make sense politically — guy from a very important state, with a moderate image that might reassure Democrats who are worried that Harris is too far to the left.

But Bret, can I take one minute to register a big howl about the fact that in a presidential election one vote in Pennsylvania is worth a trillion times more than one vote in, um, New York?

Nobody’s arguing that Shapiro is the best conceivable candidate in the country; he’s just maybe the best conceivable candidate from a critical swing state.