Ferdinand Pecora, Banking Committee Counsel. Robert Moses, New York City Parks Commissioner. Sargent Shriver, Office of Economic Opportunity. Elizabeth Warren, Congressional Oversight Panel.
These are but a few names that should remind us of the potential transformative power that some of the more obscure government positions can hold. While our media trains us to obsesses over White House intrigue, public power -- i.e. power to shape society, culture, public opinion and policy -- is quite often wielded far away from Pennsylvania Avenue's palace dramas. So when the progressive movement is given the rare opportunity to put one of our own into one of these obscure-but-powerful positions, it is critical to carpe diem.
I write this because on September 14th, one of those opportunities has emerged in the form of Eric Schneiderman.
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