Here's a fundamental rule of politics: Any time a politician selects two former U.S. secretaries of state to serve as advisers, you can figure that the politician has big plans, like Kamala Harris.
Former secretaries of state Warren Christopher and George Shultz are co-chairs of Harris' transition team, erasing any doubt that she is looking beyond her current gig as California's new attorney general.
Either that, or Harris will have the best darned foreign policy of any attorney general in America.
Attorney General Harris would have plenty to do within this state's borders, if she's interested. She heads the 4,500-person Department of Justice, and can deploy attorneys and agents to defend civil rights, and combat fraud, corruption and organized crime.
The job also is a steppingstone. Four of the last 12 attorneys general have become governor. As if to highlight that point, Harris invoked the name of one of those attorneys general who became governor, Earl Warren, no fewer than six times in her 28-minute inaugural speech this week.
Harris is living loud and large, having written a book about her crime-fighting philosophy. National television news shows portray her as a new-wave prosecutor intent on curbing recidivism. Politico dubbed her the "Democrat's anti-Palin." She can't quite remember if it's Harper's or Harper's Bazaar that is doing a piece on her. Hint: It's the one with the glossy photos.
It's the sort of stuff that gives jaded prosecutors the impression that each successive attorney general cares less about the office's important work and more about their own political future than the last.
Perhaps Harris will be an exception.
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