Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Walters: Feinstein Has a Target on Her Back
dan_walters
By Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary
Published 4 years ago on
March 22, 2021

Share

Whither Dianne Feinstein?

California’s senior U.S. senator is once again in the center of a media maelstrom — or feeding frenzy — over whether she’ll serve out the remaining four years of her current term.

Feinstein, at 87 the oldest senator, easily staved off a much-younger and more liberal challenger, Kevin de León, in 2018. However, her standing in the party eroded as it moved leftward while she remained a pragmatic moderate.

Dan Walters

Opinion

Under Fire After Supreme Court Confirmation Hearing

Last year, the left hammered her for being too passive during fierce Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings on Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. Feinstein later gave up her Judiciary Committee position — voluntarily, she said.

Feinstein also contended with a New Yorker magazine article claiming she was suffering from “cognitive decline.”

The New Yorker acknowledged that Feinstein was still sharper than other aged senators. “But many others familiar with Feinstein’s situation describe her as seriously struggling, and say it has been evident for several years,” the article said. “Speaking on background, and with respect for her accomplished career, they say her short-term memory has grown so poor that she often forgets she has been briefed on a topic, accusing her staff of failing to do so just after they have. They describe Feinstein as forgetting what she has said and getting upset when she can’t keep up.”

Newsom Comment Fed the Flames

The new year has brought new flareups of speculation that Feinstein might give up her seat and thus allow Gov. Gavin Newsom to fill one of the nation’s most influential political offices.

Newsom fed the flames when, in response to an interviewer’s question, he pledged to name a Black woman to the Senate should Feinstein resign. Politically, it was clearly an effort by Newsom to shore up support as he faces a recall election because he had been criticized for not naming a Black woman to the Senate after Kamala Harris became vice president.

However, to some, Newsom was joining the chorus of those seeking Feinstein’s early retirement.

Christine Pelosi, Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s daughter and chair of the state Democratic Party’s Women’s Caucus, snapped: “I would hope that (the Newsom campaign) remember(s) there are a lot of women who vote in the recall, and it’s not a very good look to pit women together to save the job of a man. … If you don’t respect us, don’t expect us.”

Gil Duran, the Sacramento Bee’s editorial page editor and Newsom’s sharpest media critic, opined that “Gavin Newsom just threw Dianne Feinstein under the bus to save his own skin.”

Newsom quickly insisted that he had not meant to undermine Feinstein, saying she “should absolutely fill out the rest of her term” and referring to her as a friend and a mentor.

Feinstein Insists She’ll Finish Term

Just as the air cleared from that incident, the New York Times reignited speculation by reporting that Richard Blum, Feinstein’s husband, was seeking an ambassadorship from President Joe Biden. Accompanying Blum to a distant capital would be a dignified way of exiting from the Senate, some suggested.

However, Feinstein insists that she’ll remain in the Senate through her current term and has even hinted at running again in 2024. She told reporters last week that her husband “is interested” in a diplomatic post but answered “no, no, no” to questions about leaving the Senate if he gets it.

Is that the end of the story? Probably not.

Polls indicate that Feinstein’s popularity has waned, the Democratic left and would-be successors want her gone, and her position on maintaining the Senate’s filibuster rule will likely be the next flareup.

Feinstein has a target pinned to her back.

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.

[activecampaign form=19]

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Israeli Strikes Kill 35 in Gaza, Including 12 Aid Truck Guards

DON'T MISS

ABC Settles Defamation Suit, Grants $15M to Trump Presidential Library

DON'T MISS

Woman Accusing Jay-Z and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs of Sexual Assault Acknowledges Inconsistencies

DON'T MISS

Ukrainian Drones Strike Russia as Kyiv Reels From Consecutive Massive Air Attacks

DON'T MISS

South Korea’s Parliament Votes to Impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol Over His Martial Law Order

DON'T MISS

Brian Thompson, Not Luigi Mangione, Is the Real Working-Class Hero

DON'T MISS

YouTube TV Is Hiking Its Monthly Price, Again. Here’s What to Know

DON'T MISS

City, County of Fresno Reach Tax Agreement. Can Building Move Forward?

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Release Video of Gun Battle That Killed Gang Member, Injured Sergeant

DON'T MISS

Fresno Trustees Inch Closer to Hiring a New Superintendent

UP NEXT

Why CA Needs to Double-Down on Its Apprenticeship Programs

UP NEXT

UC Merced, Born Because of Politics, Is CA’s Expensive Stepchild 20 Years Later

UP NEXT

California Can Fix Its School Crisis by Ditching Gimmicks

UP NEXT

Trump Has a New Favorite Foreign Leader. He’s Known as ‘the Madman.’

UP NEXT

After Voters Back Fresno Unified to the Hilt, There Can Be No More Excuses

UP NEXT

Is the Trump Administration Planning a Massive Increase in Legal Immigration?

UP NEXT

Will Resistant Marin County Change After a Pro-Housing Gov. Newsom Just Moved In?

UP NEXT

Californians Send Loud Message: The State Is a Mess

UP NEXT

The Winners and Losers Following the Fall of Assad

UP NEXT

JD Vance, Elon Musk and the Future of America

Ukrainian Drones Strike Russia as Kyiv Reels From Consecutive Massive Air Attacks

6 hours ago

South Korea’s Parliament Votes to Impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol Over His Martial Law Order

7 hours ago

Brian Thompson, Not Luigi Mangione, Is the Real Working-Class Hero

8 hours ago

YouTube TV Is Hiking Its Monthly Price, Again. Here’s What to Know

11 hours ago

City, County of Fresno Reach Tax Agreement. Can Building Move Forward?

22 hours ago

Fresno Police Release Video of Gun Battle That Killed Gang Member, Injured Sergeant

24 hours ago

Fresno Trustees Inch Closer to Hiring a New Superintendent

1 day ago

Supreme Court Will Take Up a Challenge Related to Tough CA Vehicle Emissions Standards

1 day ago

Why CA Needs to Double-Down on Its Apprenticeship Programs

1 day ago

Fresno Council Changes Rules on Presidency, Vice Presidency

1 day ago

Israeli Strikes Kill 35 in Gaza, Including 12 Aid Truck Guards

At least 35 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, including 12 guards protecting humanitarian aid trucks, according to loc...

59 minutes ago

Asma Al Habash, mourns her brother and his family, victims of an Israeli army strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp, at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday Dec. 12, 2024. Palestinian medical officials say Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 28 people in the Gaza Strip, including seven children and a woman. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
59 minutes ago

Israeli Strikes Kill 35 in Gaza, Including 12 Aid Truck Guards

1 hour ago

ABC Settles Defamation Suit, Grants $15M to Trump Presidential Library

6 hours ago

Woman Accusing Jay-Z and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs of Sexual Assault Acknowledges Inconsistencies

6 hours ago

Ukrainian Drones Strike Russia as Kyiv Reels From Consecutive Massive Air Attacks

7 hours ago

South Korea’s Parliament Votes to Impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol Over His Martial Law Order

This undated photo provided by UnitedHealth Group shows UnitedHealthcare chief executive officer Brian Thompson. (AP/UnitedHealth Group via AP)
8 hours ago

Brian Thompson, Not Luigi Mangione, Is the Real Working-Class Hero

11 hours ago

YouTube TV Is Hiking Its Monthly Price, Again. Here’s What to Know

22 hours ago

City, County of Fresno Reach Tax Agreement. Can Building Move Forward?

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend