FOP takes aim at AG-race foe of former Rep. Murphy

JOHN McNESBY, head of Lodge 5 of the Fraternal Order of Police, made a prediction yesterday as his union endorsed former U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy for state attorney general:

The eight weeks from now until the April 24 Democratic primary election will be filled with innuendo and mud-slinging.

And then the mud and innuendos came out.

"Pat's record of telling the truth is what we go by," McNesby said when asked about Murphy's primary rival, former Lackawanna County Assistant District Attorney Kathleen Kane, who yesterday needled him for his past support of legislation opposed by gun-control groups. "Candidate Kane, she doesn't even know where Broad Street is in the city of Philadelphia."

District Attorney Seth Williams, who endorsed Murphy in June, dismissed as a "bull - - - - argument" Kane's recent focus on Murphy's lack of courtroom experience in Pennsylvania.

Murphy passed the bar exam in Minnesota, not Pennsylvania, but was later admitted in the commonwealth to practice law.

Kane has branded her campaign material with the slogan, "A prosecutor, not a politician."

"That's just stupid," Williams said, noting that the attorney general runs that office but doesn't try cases. "Pennsylvanians deserve better."

Murphy took his own shot at Kane for raising as an issue his support in Congress for legislation that lifted a ban on firearm sales in the District of Columbia.

"Either you believe in the Second Amendment or you don't," Murphy said. "You can't pick and choose what sections of the Constitution you believe in."

A Kane campaign spokesman was waiting outside the endorsement event to hand out a statement that made reference to Murphy's father being a former Philadelphia police officer. It also touted her work "on the front line" with law-enforcement agencies.

"I am fine with the head of FOP Lodge #5 looking after the son of a member," Kane's statement said. "I have worked with police officers for most of my career and know that they are very loyal."

Former state Auditor General Don Bailey is also running in the Democratic primary. Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed is the lone Republican in the race.