Attorney general at fund-raiser with Phila. law enforcement colleagues

Kathleen Kane was among friends.

The Democratic attorney general, appearing at a fund-raiser Wednesday night for her campaign at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 hall in Northeast Philadelphia, thanked her law enforcement colleagues for their support during a trying time.

"Every morning, we have the absolute privilege of getting up and serving the public and doing something good for other people," Kane said. "And you know what? We take our beatings, don't we? Sometimes, the public doesn't understand why we do what we do; sometimes, they don't appreciate it. But that's OK - we still get up the next morning and still go out and still do our jobs."

Kane has had a harried four days after revelations published in The Inquirer that she closed down a sting operation that had captured at least five Philadelphia Democratic officials taking cash or gifts. She said the investigation was fatally flawed and could not have stood up in court.

She praised her audience as "real people" who work hard and "care about the truth" - unlike, she said, the news media.

"So I want you to know that, despite the brutal beating I've taken the last couple of days, I am one tough woman," she said to the crowd of about 150 who paid $30 apiece for a cocktail reception with the state's top law enforcer. - Thomas Fitzgerald