Republican critics recently said they feared that Democratic Attorney General hopeful Kathleen Kane would be too much like a certain New York politician, they were talking about former NY AG Elliot Spitzer and the way he went after big banks.
Maybe they should have been worried about another New York politico.
A super PAC founded and funded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is spending over $250,000 to boost Democratic Attorney General hopeful Kathleen Kane.
“Kathleen Kane: close the [Florida] loophole and keep guns out of the wrong hands. Track stolen guns to choke of supply to criminals. Background checks for all gun sales,” says an announcer in the ad paid for by Independence USA PAC.
“David Freed? Endorsed by the NRA. Thinks ne gun laws aren’t the answer. Good for the NRA, wrong for us.”
Update: The ad is airing on cable and broadcast in the Philadelphia market to the tune of over $600,000, according to a spokesman for the PAC.
Southeast Pa. is the one part of the state where an NRA endorsement doesn’t bring an overwhelming positive.
Freed Campaign Manager Tim Kelly said the ad was hypocritical give Kane’s past criticism of outside groups in the race.
“The hypocrisy that Kathleen Kane has demonstrated throughout this campaign is staggering. On one hand Kane calls for outside groups to ‘get out of Pennsylvania’ while on the other hand she accepts hundreds of thousands of dollars from these organizations. It’s clear that Kane is very much a part of the filthy, backroom politics she’s tried so hard to convince voters she is against.”
There is a substantive policy difference between the two. Kane has run since the Democratic primary as the gun control candidate, even using the issue to criticize her opponent former Congressman Patrick Murphy.
Here’s the Harrisburg Patriot-News report on where Kane and Freed stand on gun issues:
Freed doesn’t support a law that would criminalize failing to report a lost or stolen handgun. He was involved in negotiations with lawmakers on a number of gun-related issues, including the expansion of the Castle Doctrine, which covers the use of force to protect oneself. Freed praised the recent passage of legislation designed to ensure that people who illegally buy guns for criminals face at least five years in prison.
“That’s the kind of important legislation we need. We need to have effective gun laws effectively enforced. I see this [reporting of lost or stolen firearms] very clearly as an enforcement issue,” Freed said.
Kane disagrees.
“Lost or stolen does not affect Second Amendment right to own a gun. All it does is give an affirmative duty upon a gun owner that if their gun is lost or stolen, they must report it to police. That gives prosecutors the tools that they need” to go after people who buy guns illegally for criminals, she said.
She favors closing the “Florida loophole,” which allows someone who was denied a concealed-carry gun permit in Pennsylvania to obtain one from another state and then transfer that permit to this state.
On this issue, Freed supports giving gun owners six months to obtain a state permit to carry to avoid infringing on rights of law-abiding gun owners.
13 Responses
Actually the AG has the power to enter into reciprocity agreements w/ other states w/out legislature involvement at all!! Kane wants to end out of state permits, and possibly (as hinted at by her) reciprocity with other states as well. I’m saddened that someone supported by NYC Bloomberg has won this important PA office. This state’s views are quickly becoming that of NJ and NY. Not mine.
It seems to me that NY Mayor Bloomberg should be spending the money on those in NY or NJ suffering in the cold without gas and electricity rather than pouring outside money into the Pa AG race. BTW it is the legislature not the AG that determines the gun laws in Pa, must be hanging around too much with Fast and Furious Holder.
Kane might as well be a carpetbagger from NY depending on fly over politicians like Clinton and Bloomberg, who mock Pennsylvanians for “clinging to Bibles and Guns.” They will pry either from my cold dead hand. Freed understands that it is the legislature that passes laws and it is for the Attorney General to see that they are faithfully enforced, including First and Second Amendment rights. Kane, Clinton and Bloomberg seem to think an AG gets to make up the laws they enforce or choose not to enforce; they should spend less time with Eric Holder, and more time reading the Constitutions of the Commonwealth and the United States. We need a full time prosecutor not a part time prosecutor and full time politician. Freed is ready from day one; Kane is not Able.
If SEPA loves gun control so much then they should just petition to get themselves annexed by NJ. Philly can enjoy the harsh gun control laws of NJ (which work splendidly), and the rest of PA can enjoy its 2nd Amendment rights. Win-win.
Obama has time and time again tried to champion Clean Energy Sources to help curb Global Warming. Public access to real facts is being whitewashed by this rhetoric while conservative hands paint the Blackface on our President. Watch them mix and apply the paints to his face in a portrait of Obama being Bamboozed by the Far Right at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2012/10/bamboozling-obama.html
Disagree with Thomas-this ad is great ESPECIALLY in Philadelphia where high Democratic turnout will benefit Obama but not necessarily down ballot where people might not vote for candidates they don’t know. Tough of crime and gun female DA plays huge in Philly.
Although my personal view is that we have more than enough gun laws and what we need is enforcement of those laws, I have to think that Kane’s Campaign has done polling and it seems the goal is to raise name ID of a viable Democrat to Democratic voters tantalizing Democrats with the prospect of the first ever Democratic Attorney General. It is unlikely that anyone spends $250,000 without having good reason to think it will take the candidate over the finish line.
The first job of the AG is to enforce the law, without fear or favor, and with equal justice toward all. I had thought that the Dave Freed’s various conflicts of interest and that 32 years of One Party Rule, inevitably, leads to politicized prosecutions would be enough of a message to undercut him and, maybe it has. The failure to prosecute the Perzel Lowell Gates robo-call campaign violation has sent a message to some.
I have to think that an AG who will prosecute the law with equal justice for all will be good for all of us, including me although it will strike cold fear into the hearts of the Harrisburg Republican Hacks who no longer have Arlen Specter or a compliant AG to protect them.
Two good reasons ‘equal justice for all” AND Harrisburg Hacks on defense.
Kane has run circles around Freed, and will almost certainly run ahead of Obama. She’d be better off without the help of a narcissist like Bloomberg, whose political antennae extend all the way from 96th Street to Battery Park.
I don’t see how anyone, sportsman included, can argue against sensible gun laws. Most Pennsylvanians who own guns are law abiding citizens who have nothing to fear, its the criminals and only the criminals who are against sensible gun legislation. Now maybe I am biased since I live in SEPA where gun violence is an ever constant threat, but to be opposed to making sure criminals can’t get access to guns seams to me like a no-brainer
People in SEPA – who outnumber the rest of the state in a state-wide contest – are sick of the NRA-fearing wimps from upstate telling us we can’t have reasonable restriction on guns. If the upstate Republicans would grow a pair, Officer FOX would be alive today!
As stated above, this ad is airing in the Philadelphia market. Philadelphia is sick and tired of gun violence and the 5 county area is not swayed by an NRA Endorsement. Most of PA (area wise) is strong 2nd Amendment, SEPA is not. This ad will not hurt Kane. And, you can be pro-2nd amendment and have some restrictions. Such as shutting down loopholes that entice criminals to buy guns in Florida.
This is a bad move for Kane. Going after guns in Pennsylvania isn’t a good move for anyone running for statewide office.
This is not a good thing for Kane. PA is PRO-GUN. Bloomberg has drank one too many big gulps. NYC is the farthest thing from PA values and beliefs wise. THIS IS BAD FOR KANE, she touts herself as pro-2nd amendment