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Exclusive: Kane Goes Negative (Watch Video)

Kathleen Kane is swinging back against Democratic Attorney General opponent Patrick Murphy. In an ad meant to rebut Murphy’s own attack against her, Kane reiterates her campaign’s line that she has prosecuted more cases in Pa. than Murphy.

The ad is scheduled to begin airing tonight and through the weekend.

“Patrick Murphy’s TV ads attacking Kathleen Kane are false,” declares a narrator. “Kane’s been praised for opposing Tom Corbett’s agenda.”

Murphy’s ad emphasizes that Kane gave $500 to Tom Corbett’s Attorney General re-election campaign in 2008.

The ad throws some punches, too.

“Murphy gave bonuses to his political pals, instead of paying his taxes,” and “Murphy was caught breaking campaign finance laws.”

Finally, the ad makes the statement that Kane’s camp has for months: “Kane has prosecuted three thousand cases. Murphy has never prosecuted a single criminal in Pennsylvania.”

In a recent interview with the Harrisburg Patriot-News, Kane clarified that the 3,000 number was an estimate based on how many cases she had administered during her time in the Lackawanna County DA’s office. “Prosecuted” can mean a wide range of things. She estimated in that interview that she had taken about 24 cases to trial during her tenture, a campaign spokesperson later said the number was likely closer to 60.

Murphy’s camp hit back.

“In a new ad, Kathleen Kane summons the audacity to talk about someone else’s taxes. Five years ago, Patrick Murphy’s campaign was notified that they owed $230 in local payroll taxes. So they paid the taxes,” said spokesman Nat Binns.

But, he said, the Abington Heights School District put a Municipal Lien on Kane’s family home in 2009 for failure to pay $849.84 in property taxes.

As we wrote about Kane’s other recent ad, which highlighted her endorsement from former President Bill Clinton:

More interestingly, their final-week ads show where each campaign thinks it is. Murphy’s most recent spot was a broadside of attacks against Kane on a number of issues. That, plus the fact that Kane appears to be entering the final on a positive note, suggests that both campaigns see her as the frontrunner.

Apparently, her camp sees the race closing since their April 15 internal poll showed her with a 42 to 33 percent lead.

Kane is a former assistant District Attorney from Lackawanna County; Murphy is a former Congressman from Bucks County. The winner of the primary will face Dave Freed, the District Attorney of Cumberland County and the lone Republican on the ballot.

30 Responses

  1. Evan Feinberg used this SAME voice actor for his ridiculously stupid radio and TV ads. How hilarious – the Rand Paul TeaBag staffer using a Democrat voice actor in his ads criticizing Murphy for not being a wingnut conservative! GASP, Feinberg’s using..wait for it…UNION LABOR! Card check Feinberg.

  2. Being a veteran myself I can say without a doubt Murphy is a complete and utter fraud. Seeing him as my congressional representative in the 8th was painful enough and if by some chance he actually gets to the AG office we are all in serious trouble. I am so tied of him seeing him talk about his bronze star WITHOUT a V for valor, which means it was NOT combat related, hence I believe it involved the John Kerry purple heart he was written up for for sustained paper cuts in the green zone. He is one of 17,498 in the Army to win a bronze star in Iraq during his tour (US Marine Corps awarded only 701 during the same time) so basically it is worth nothing other then another officer getting a BS award that has no business going to someone in the green zone drinking smoothies by the pool and not in combat. His main job in Iraq was settling doors knocked down by the Army and now he qualifies to be the AG of PA? Maybe we should ask the PA Voters Assistance Office which his campaign fraudulently ran last election in Bucks County for their opinion. His trial experience speaks for itself… ZERO cases in PA and does not even have the PA bar exam on his record… what is he doing in this race except being a pathetic career politician.

  3. Eric-
    His military service does not give him a free pass to get a job he’s not qualified to occupy. The military system is too different from the civilian system, so his legal experience in Iraq does not qualify him for the top civilian law position in PA. I’m not questioning that he served, but rather I’m stating that his service was not sufficient/relevant preparation for the AG job. ANY D.A. or assistant D.A. in the state of PA has more relevant experience for AG than Murphy.

    Kane’s not misleading anybody. She’s got more experience than Murphy (who has ZERO prosecuting criminals in PA). He doesn’t have enough experience for the job, and would get slaughtered on that point in the general election.

    Check out the endorsements from BOTH of Philly’s major newspapers.

  4. Murphy is a weak candidate. He will get pummeled for never prosecuting a case in Pennsylvania if he goes into the general election. He also looks very wimpy in his tv ad. Nominating a woman is also a plus for the Dems. I am very enthusiastic for Kane as she is the much stronger canduidate to finally win this for the Democrats.

  5. @David Diano,
    Wow. Nothing like questioning the service of a veteran. Patrick Murphy defended our freedom in Iraq and prosecuted terrorists in Iraq. I’m sorry that’s not good enough for you. Calling Murphy’s service into question is sickening and you should be ashamed of yourself.

    You question Murphy’s record, but Kane’s record is just as unclear. She’s been misleading Pennsylvanians, acting as if she’s the greatest prosecutor in the state’s history. Get a grip. She was an ADA in like the 8th most populated county in the state. And let’s not forget she hasn’t prosecuted a case since 07. What has she been doing? Oh I forgot, she’s been busy being a member of the corporate elite.

  6. John – Murphy did not take the PA bar exam. He passed the Minnesota bar, and when he got back from Iraq, the Pennsylvania bar/board granted him a license to practice in PA. But, he never took the PA bar, and he’s never handled a criminal prosecution in PA.

    I don’t think the bronze star was for being a lawyer. Murphy did take/pass several types of combat training, but as far as I know, he didn’t engage in combat.

    There used to be a link on Murphy06 site with the text of the citation, but that site is gone.

  7. Murphy did not take the PA bar exam and he has never tried a case in PA. When you boil it down, he is unqualified for the position.

  8. I’m going to go ahead and say what Kane is talking about is that Murphy’s campaign paid win bonuses to his staff after his ’06 campaign.

    That is something probably 90% of political campaigns do. If Kane actually had any political experience, she’d probably know that. One might think we might want someone with political experience in the POLITICAL position of Attorney General.

  9. Murphy’s main qualification is that he will bend over backwards to please and protect the corrupt Philadelphia machine. That is why the GOP keeps winning the AG race. With Kane, the Ds have a real prosecutor with the assets to challenge for this position.

  10. @David, can you please tell us more about Murphy’s bronze star. His main qualification for AG is his legal experience in the military. I thought if he was awarded the bronze star for his military service as a lawyer then he must be quite a good lawyer and prosecutor. Enough so that I would support him for AG.

    But if the bronze star was for something else or not because of his time in the military as a JAG officer then maybe I will have to reconsider.

  11. David
    You are the one who keeps incorrectly writing that he did not take the bar. You’ve been shown to be wrong and have lost all credibility on this blog. You’ve also made a Murphy voter of me as a result

  12. Typical fat cat business person? She’s worked in the D.A.’s office for 12 years. That’s not typical or fat cat.

    Murphy wasn’t in charge. He was a junior member of the JAG team. He didn’t get a bronze star for “management”. It was for meritorious service, not management or legal skill.

  13. Murphy was not the top legal officer in Iraq, far from it.

    Enough with the labor comments too, this is a position to try cases and enforce the laws of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, not political grandstanding to one day run for Governer. Kane by 7 points..

  14. David:

    It sounds like Kane is the typical fat cat business person. She gives money to people who are or who she thinks will be in power. This way she can curry personal and business favors. She is what is wrong with the system.

    Murphy was the top legal officer for 1.3 million Iraqis and over 3500 US military paratroopers in Iraq. He was awarded a bronze star for this service. Is that good and relevant management experience?

  15. Robert-
    Her “support” of Corbett was $500. She gave 20 times as much to Rendell, and even more to other Democrats running at the federal level. Murphy actually voted for George Bush for President, and was a Blue-Dog in congress. There is plenty to be concerned about his judgement.

    Eric-
    Murphy went to Widener (a weak law school) and didn’t pass the bar in a state he wants to be the top lawyer of, and he’s never prosecuted a civilian criminal case. If the job is such a “managerial” position, why not run the manager of a used car company for AG? Also, how much “management” experience does Murphy have running a team of lawyers?

    Murphy couldn’t even hold his congressional seat. If he ran for congress again, does anyone think he would win?

  16. What about the fact that she did support Corbett and she is affiliated with a trucking company that is doing all it can to keep away from union drivers.

  17. Eric- you make the point perfectly for a Kane win. The very people who you think MATTER in the state are the pollitical insiders interested in protecting the status quo. I hope Kane wins on Tuesday so she can continue her work as a prosecutor, protecting the people that really matter- the citizens of PA.

  18. So because he took the Minnesota Bar to expedite his ability to practice law in the military, he’s unqualified? There are thousands upon thousands of lawyers in this state that haven’t taken the PA Bar. You people are acting like he avoided the PA Bar because he was afraid of it. Give me a break.

    And can we please stop acting like Kathleen Kane is going to be prosecuting every single case by herself. It’s a freaking managerial position. If Patrick Murphy wasn’t qualified, or the best Democrat for Attorney General, he wouldn’t have more endorsements for the office from people who MATTER in this state. The fact is, Democrat’s don’t trust Kathleen Kane, mainly because they don’t even know if she is a Democrat.

  19. The only reason Patrick Murphy was ever elected to Congress was because he was anonymous. No one knew who he really was, only that he was not a Republican and that they wanted to send the country in a different direction.
    After 4 years of Patrick Murphy we elected Mike Fitzpatrick by an almost 20,000 vote margin after he lost to Murphy in 2006 by 1500 votes. By the way, the voter registration leans democrat by a significant margin.
    Patrick Murphy was given his oppurtunity and unfortunately he went hard left. He will lose the general and Kane has the better chance of beating Freed. That is wht the primary is for, finding the better candidate to win the general election.

  20. Oops…My incomplete thought above was this…if one wants to be the top lawyer in PA, one should at least have taken and passed the PA Bar exam! Sorry Patrick – that is basic – and you can come nowhere near satisfying that. We will all be so happy when your whiny, dead fish hand shake self is cast aside…again.

  21. Why hasnt Murphy taken the PA Bar? It would seem to me that if one By the way, prosecuting a case under Pennsylvania Law is NOT the same as prosecuting a case under the Code of Military Justice. Also, prosecuting a case is not necessarily bringing a case to trial.
    The next time Pat Murphy walks into a PA Courtroom will be the first time! Ms. Kane has been in a PA Courtroom many times.
    Sorry Patrick, if you want to earn a living, you’ll have to work like the rest of us…your political career is over.

  22. Every lawyer worth his or her salt will tell you there is a huge difference between a military court and civilian court. The Kane ad calls Murphy out for the liar that he is. Good. It is comparative. Murphy went negative early in this race for one reason- he’s losing. HE HAS NEVER TRIED A CASE IN PA OR TAKEN THE PA BAR. Given that, he’s got to have quite an ego to run for AG.

  23. Well I’m in the Philadelphia media market. I just saw the new ad run 2 times in the last half hour. I think it’s going to be quite effective. And you can keep attacking Murphy for his lack of PA courtroom experience, Kane has only taken 24 cases to trial in 12 years. Sounds like a weak prosecutor to me. Murphy has trial experience in the military JAG Corps. The cases he handled are similar to the cases Kane handled. There isn’t much difference between a military court and a civilian court. I suppose he should apologize for serving his country. Is that what the Kane campaign wants?

  24. I haven’t seen a Murphy ad, except here. I’ve seen several Kane ads on TV. I heard Murphy was low on cash because he jumped the gun with some early ads when no one was paying attention.

    Kane handled 3000 criminal cases. Murphy still is at zero, and never took the PA bar.

  25. Low on cash? I’ve seen more Murphy ads in the last 48hrs than Kane ads. Maybe her husband won’t let her spend anymore of his money. And don’t worry, there’s a new ad out hitting Kane on her admission that she’s only really tried 24 cases. Only 2,976 away from her claim of 3,000. Looks like the only “prosecutor” in this race is a liar. Maybe she’s more of a politician than we thought.

  26. More of a counter-attack than an attack. She can stick up for herself. Murphy is supposedly low on cash, so he probably won’t come up with a second negative ad, with the election only days away.

  27. Patrick Murphy’s political career is toast. He never should have run for Attorney General. I am happy to see the Kane campaign throw a punch. Murphy never passed the PA bar or tried a case in Pennsylvania. He simply isn’t qualified to be Attorney General.

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