On the Passing of DiFi

An Old Fashioned Liberal Who Paid Attention to the State

This article appeared first in the California globe. You can visit the website at: https://californiaglobe.com/

California Senator Dianne Feinstein died this morning, thus bringing an end to a long career of public service.

She was thrust into the spotlight when Mayor George Moscone was assassinated in San Francisco’s City Hall and the city’s Board of Supervisors (city council) chose her – then president of the Board – to become the mayor.

Feinstein was roundly praised for her actions – stolid and sober - in the aftermath of the shooting (she herself had survived an assassination attempt by a far-left terrorist group.)

She remained mayor and was a good mayor and, in light of what the city has become today, it could very well be said she was a very good mayor.

She was a liberal, but an old-fashioned liberal.  While very pro-choice and very anti-gun, she also understood the necessary mechanics of government and – save for those two positions – could not be said to have been terribly far to the left at all.

In other words, she was a liberal – not a progressive and, God help us, not woke.

And, as a former mayor, she understood cities and it was in that context – I was a mayor/councilman/etc. -  that I met her on a few occasions.

And I was impressed.

She knew the details of the issues, she knew how hard it was for cities to deal with the other levels of government, and she knew cities had their own characters.  For example, she agreed with and supported proper forest management – clearing and such – to help reduce fire risk.  Didn’t quite get there but it is an example of how reality – and not uber-strict ideology - actually mattered to her

Feinstein not only listened but she heard and she engaged.  She and her staff were incredibly responsive when it came to local issues, something that the other California senator I had to deal with – Barbara Boxer – was not.

Really, really, not.  Boxer, unlike Feinstein, spent most of her time bloviating and scheming, desperately trying to snare her dream job of vice president (seriously – that’s what she wanted and it is very quite possible that the selfish, soulless, conniving character of Selena Mayer on the fantastically terrifying HBO comedy “Veep” was based, in part, on her.)

Feinstein had no grander political ambition and really didn’t ever have to worry about getting re-elected – even Republicans in California voted for her – allowing her to focus more than usual on serving the state.

Politics always plays a role in politics, but when it came to most of the nuts and bolts local issues, Feinstein and her staff really did not play that game too often.

Her very public decline was very difficult to stomach, especially knowing it was DC Democrats that kept her in office to make sure there was no “gap” that would allow Republicans to maybe sneak something through.  Of course, she almost certainly wanted to stay herself but she did not appear to be able to make that decision rationally – an understandable reaction to other people trying to push her out.

And people on the left did, just as they demanded Justice Ginsberg quit the bench so they could appoint a justice of their choosing.  She said no and now the standing of the once-goddess like “Notorious RBG” is shattered.

And now for the icky part – who gets her seat? 

First, Gavin Newsom did not want this to happen – it puts him in an incredibly tricky position.

The primary election to replace Feinstein in the fall is five months away and the filing deadline to run for the office is not technically until December 8.  Newsom has promised to appoint a black woman to the seat but he also strongly wishes that that person be a caretaker, a person who will say “neat – sure I’ll be a senator for a year or so and it will be fun and I’ll be able to say for the rest of my life I was a senator – very cool - and then I’ll happily go away.”

Hence the bind – and the not nearly as far-fetched as it sounds idea of sliding Oprah Winfrey into the job.

Rep. Barbara Lee is a candidate and she is a black woman and she has essentially demanded Newsom put her in, in part reasoning that “hey, I’m already running for it so you know I want it and I’m the senior black woman in state politics anyway so bypassing me would be an insult,” but there are other considerations.

First, Rep. Nancy Pelosi – a very very good friend of Gavin’s and part of the Bay Area cabal that has guided and greased both his business and political careers – is backing the truly and dangerously awful Adam Schiff for the seat and she would not at all appreciate installing one his rivals as the “incumbent,” with all of the advantages that brings.

Second, there’s the other main challenger for the seat, Rep. Katie Porter.  While, like Schiff, actionably putrid, she is a progressive darling and Newsom’s wokerati backers would not appreciate her getting cut off at the knees by a Lee appointment.

Third, the non-candidate idea appeals to Newsom for personal reasons – essentially he will be able to play senator by phone, controlling whatever they do in exchange for the appointment to the taxpayer-funded ego trip that such an appointment would entail.

Newsom could – and probably will – act quickly to fill the seat as Democrats are all too cognizant that their two-vote majority just sunk to one.  Of course, there is a worry that, since the deadline to run for the seat is not until December, a quickly-appointed caretaker could decide “heck with it – I’m gonna try to stay” and run.

And that would be a very humiliating problem.

One could assume that right about now Gavin wishes he had married a black woman.

Wait a sec – she was an “actress,” so she knows how to put on makeup…