[erimir]

She did avoid answering the question of why she defended the death penalty in California.

But I understand some of the reason she did that - she barely won her first AG race, and I wouldn't assume that most Californians oppose/opposed the death penalty, so she promised to defend it in court even though she was opposed. She stuck with her opposition to the death penalty as a prosecutor even when it wasn't convenient. Meanwhile, sticking to her campaign promise perhaps shows that even if you think a promise is pandering, she won't go back on it. Maybe.

So I don't think that's really the best attack and she could've addressed it (making a promise for political reasons and against your personal principles wouldn't endear her to some folks, I suppose, but I'm less concerned with "authenticity" than most). Of course, she'd rather talk about that other stuff anyway. Unfortunately for Mr. Fink, he did not really offer any other really specific examples, otherwise just being more vaguely "you're too tough on crime."