Apr 6, 2015 3 min read

Her opponents say embattled Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane is inept, unethical and motivated less by the pursuit of justice than blunt political expediency.

Her supporters counter Kane, the first woman to be elected as the commonwealth’s attorney general (Linda Kelly, her predecessor, was appointed) and the first Democrat to hold the office since it became an elected post in 1980, is merely the victim of the Harrisburg “old boys network” she promised to challenge, along with state Republicans who want to smother a promising political career in its crib.

The truth, as it is in most things, is probably somewhere in the middle.

Time will tell whether a grand jury indicts Kane on charges related to the leaking of classified investigative material to the Philadelphia Daily News, and if any case against Kane has merit. The wisdom, or lack thereof, of her deeply controversial decision to not pursue an investigation against three former or current state legislators from Philadelphia who allegedly took cash or gifts from a lobbyist turned informant will be evident if Philadelphia’s district attorney, Seth Williams, is able to get convictions in the case, which he decided to take on after Kane dropped it.

Other decisions, such as allowing two of three statewide investigative grand juries to expire, or the quashing of subpoenas aimed at well-connected Scranton grandees in an investigation of a state gaming official, also provoke raised eyebrows. But being an attorney general in Pennsylvania, or any other state, is not a task for the faint of heart, and it’s the rare few who escape without riling partisans on one side or the other.

But what should really concern Pennsylvania voters, at least in the near term, is how quickly Kane burns through staff.

Last week, it was announced that Blake Rutherford, who were Kane’s chief of staff for just four months, was leaving to take on a job with a high-powered Philadelphia law firm. Rutherford’s exit comes fast on the heels of the departure of press secretary Aaron Sadler, an Arkansas native who lasted less than two months on the job. Sadler said, more or less, he was homesick. “All my friends and family are in the South,” he told Allentown’s Morning Call newspaper. “I’ve certainly missed the culture, the warmer weather, and, most importantly, the people that matter most to me.”

Frankly, we find it hard to believe a seasoned professional wouldn’t have made these calculations before accepting the job. Even if they found they missed the comforts of home, most would have soldiered on for a year or two, then started sending résumés. Other senior Kane staffers have made their way to the exits since her tenure began in January 2013.

According to a lengthy profile that appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer over the weekend, Kane has not cultivated a strong relationship with some aides, and ignored their advice on occasion. Perhaps more telling, despite her own description of her management style as “easygoing,” the profile noted “Kane could be ‘imperious’ and dismissive, according to someone with knowledge of her office demeanor. ‘Quite frankly, she treated her staff with disdain and contempt at times.'”

Though some are calling for Kane’s resignation, you can’t demand it on the basis of management skills that are wanting or whispers about potential criminal charges. But Pennsylvanians have every reason to wonder if Kane is actually up to the job. On that count, the jury is most definitely out.