Democrats' 'Female Obama' Generates Party Buzz

Politico today profiles the incoming attorney general of California, and two of her nicknames will tell you why: the "female Obama" and the "anti-Palin." Kamala Harris, who resists both labels, is "a rare talent who will be a national figure shortly,” former Clinton aide Chris Lehane tells Ben Smith. As for the "female Obama" comparison—she's an eloquent, mixed-race attorney with a liberal fan base—"it’s more apt to say she is the female Obama that progressives thought they were voting for.”

Harris won praise as San Francisco's district attorney for cutting recidivism among criminals, and Smith notes that she's not afraid to buck liberal orthodoxy with policies such as charging the parents of truant students. A sign of her broad appeal: When she came to DC last week to hear congressional testimony about cyberbullying, she also got booked for a photo shoot at Harper's Bazaar.
(More attorney general stories.)