Donald Verrilli, Kamala Harris top list to replace Attorney General Eric Holder
http://news.yahoo.com/donald-verrilli--kamala-harris-top-list-to-replace-attorney-general-eric-holder-164850403.html
No, thank you.
Kamala Harris 'honored’ by D.C. rumors, but says no thanksBy John Wildermuth
Kamala Harris didn’t wait long to knock down any questions about her replacing Eric Holder as U.S. attorney general.
Even before the White House officially announced Holder’s resignation Thursday, Harris, who is running for re-election as California’s attorney general, released a statement saying thanks, but no thanks.
“I am honored to even be mentioned, but intend to continue my work for the people of California as attorney general,” said the former San Francisco district attorney. “I am focused on key public safety issues including transnational gangs, truancy and recidivism.”
Harris, a longtime friend and early political backer of President Obama, has long been on the media’s short list of people the president would look at to become the country’s top prosecutor.
Last year, Obama drew criticism for referring to Harris as "by far the best-looking attorney general in the country" at a political fundraiser in Atherton.
But the president also praised her ability to handle the job.
“She is brilliant and she is dedicated and she is tough,” Obama said, “and she is exactly what you'd want in anybody who is administering the law and making sure that everybody is getting a fair shake."
But with Harris’ political star shining brightly in California and her re-election all but assured, the prospect of moving to Washington for a two-year stint in the administration of an increasingly embattled president has probably lost some luster.
Also, the likelihood of a bruising confirmation battle in what could well be a Republican-led Senate next year had to be part of any calculation.
Even so, taking over one of the nation’s most important — and most visible — jobs wouldn’t have hurt Harris’ chances of replacing Gov. Jerry Brown in four years or running for a Senate seat should either Sen. Barbara Boxer or Sen. Dianne Feinstein retire, said Katie Merrill, a Democratic political strategist who has not worked for Harris.
“For Kamala, she could spend two years in Washington, do a good job and still come back and run for governor” in 2018, Merrill said. “She’s the front-runner now and she would be the front-runner then.”
The national spotlight that shines on the attorney general would only boost Harris’ political visibility, she added.
“It’s not like she would have been leaving California to disappear.”
