Kathleen Kane may not be running for governor of Pennsylvania. But whomever ends up being the Democratic candidate with the honor of retiring Tom Corbett is going to owe her.
Though I haven't lived in Pennsylvania since high school -- well, I went to high school there. I still care. I keep track. And the job that Kane has done as the state's first female elected Attorney General is phenomenal. 2020 or 2024, anyone? Emily's List has been talking about her in that way.
There's a great piece of journalism over at Lawdragon.com about the kind of impact "General Kane" is having. See:
The Wrecking Crew: Attorney General Kathleen Kane’s War Against Heroin
Maybe we can't, never could "win the war" on drugs. But with strong, pragmatic leadership from a great Democratic attorney general, Pennsylvania is making strides.
... Last August, as the unit was still getting established in the greater Hazleton area, Police Chief Frank V. DeAndrea Jr. already liked what he was seeing.
DeAndrea is a wiry, intense man with a love of history – and a knack for hyperbole. In his nicely appointed office in Hazleton City Hall, DeAndrea likens Kane and her MSCU concept to General William T. Sherman and his then-modern methods of using raw numbers to outflank the opponent, a break from traditional war strategy that altered the Civil War.
"She's a modern day General Sherman," DeAndrea gushes. "She is changing the way urban drug and drug-crime battles will be fought in the future. She's Mrs. Clean, and she's coming to scrub the place. And when she leaves, she's gonna leave the tools behind for us to protect the community."
According to DeAndrea, Kane deserves credit for "recognizing a problem and coming up with a solution that goes against what everyone else is doing."
Again,
the whole story on Kane's efforts is at Lawdragon.com.