Swing State Turmoil

The Democrats’ Problem in Pennsylvania Is Falling Star Kathleen Kane

Indicted in August for perjury, the state’s attorney general could prove to be a liability for a Clinton presidential run.
Photographer: Matt Rourke/AP Photo
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In 2012, Kathleen Kane was a rising star in the Democratic Party. A political neophyte, she had just become the first woman and the first Democrat elected to the post of Pennsylvania attorney general, thanks in part to an endorsement from Bill Clinton.

Today, charged with perjury, Kane is at the center of a political storm, complete with bitter feuds, political sting operations, racist e-mails, pornography and, because that’s not enough, the ghost of Joe Paterno.