California Democrats snub Dianne Feinstein
Feinstein
DIANNE FEINSTEIN  has served California as a senator for 25 years.  She  has raised $13m for  her  2018 re-election bid;  her  closest competitor  a state senator named Kevin de LeÃ³n  has rustled up $434 000. So it was humiliating for  Ms Feinstein  when the California Democratic Party failed to endorse  her  at its annual convention in San Diego.
Results announced on February 25th revealed that just 37% of delegates voted for  Ms Feinstein ; 54% chose Mr de LeÃ³n. Candidates need to win 60% of ballots to be awarded the partyâs endorsement.  Ms Feinstein âs inability to garner that support will make  her  the first incumbent senator in decades to run in the Golden Stateâs primary  on June 5th  without official party backing.
The outcome of the convention was not entirely shocking. Viewed as a staunch moderate   Ms Feinstein  has never particularly appealed to Democratic activists of the sort who tend to serve as delegates. Much of  Ms Feinstein âs ideology is progressive.  She  has fought zealously for gun control  successfully getting an assault weapons ban signed into law in 1994.  She  put pressure on Barack Obama to declassify a 7 000-page Senate report about the use of torture by the CIA during the tenure of George W. Bush. But for some Democrats   she  is not reliably liberal enough. â She  has never been the sweetheart of the rodeo â says Garry South  a long-time democratic strategist in California.
In 1990  when  she  was running for California governor   Ms Feinstein  was booed at the state Democratic convention after expressing support for the death penalty.  She  voted to authorise the use of force in Iraq and for the Patriot Act  a Bush-era law that expanded the authority of law enforcement agencies to spy on Americans. More recently  progressive protestors gathered outside  Ms Feinsteinâs  San Francisco mansion to rail against  her  support of some of Donald Trumpâs cabinet nominees. â Feinstein  show me some spine â read one demonstratorâs sign. âObstruct or go home â read another.
 Ms Feinsteinâs  age has also played a part in  her  failure to excite Democratic activists.  The senator  turns 85 this summer. If re-elected  she  would be 90 by the end of  her  term. Some Democrats think the time has come for  her  to step aside. As  she  wrapped up  her  speech at the convention  music began playing to signal that  her  allotted time had elapsed. âI guess my time is up â  Ms Feinstein  remarked  to which some members of the audience responded with a chant: âYour time is up! Your time is up!â After the convention results were announced Mr de LeÃ³n wrote in a Twitter post: âThe outcome of last nightâs endorsement vote is an astounding rejection of politics as usual. A signal to Washington that we stand shoulder-to-shoulder against a complacent status quo.â
The convention result is not necessarily a harbinger of things to come in the June primary or the November general election. California has a top-two primary system for state-wide elections; every eligible candidate from every party participates in the same primary. The top two contenders face off against one another in the general election regardless of their party affiliation. This year  that will probably result in a general election that pits  Ms Feinstein  against Mr de LeÃ³n. Despite  her  lack of appeal among party activists   Ms Feinstein  still seems likely to prevail over  her  pugnacious rival among voters.
A survey published in January by the Public Policy Institute of California  a polling group  found that  Ms Feinstein  led Mr de LeÃ³n by nearly 30 percentage pointsâthough a third of voters were undecided. The same poll found that 45% of probable voters do not know who Mr de LeÃ³n is and 20% felt they didnât know enough about him to have an opinion. Only 7% said they had not heard of  Ms Feinstein . And  her  war chest dwarfs Mr de LeÃ³nâs by a multiple of 27. For now it looks as though the establishment will remain just that.
DIANNE FEINSTEIN  has served California as a senator for 25 years.  She  has raised $13m for  her  2018 re-election bid;  her  closest competitor  a state senator named Kevin de LeÃ³n  has rustled up $434 000. So it was humiliating for  Ms Feinstein  when the California Democratic Party failed to endorse  her  at its annual convention in San Diego.
Results announced on February 25th revealed that just 37% of delegates voted for   [TGT]  ; 54% chose Mr de LeÃ³n. Candidates need to win 60% of ballots to be awarded the partyâs endorsement.   [TGT]  âs inability to garner that support will make   [TGT]   the first incumbent senator in decades to run in the Golden Stateâs primary  on June 5th  without official party backing.
The outcome of the convention was not entirely shocking. Viewed as a staunch moderate    [TGT] has never particularly appealed to Democratic activists of the sort who tend to serve as delegates. Much of   [TGT]  âs ideology is progressive.   [TGT]   has fought zealously for gun control  successfully getting an assault weapons ban signed into law in 1994.   [TGT]   put pressure on Barack Obama to declassify a 7 000-page Senate report about the use of torture by the CIA during the tenure of George W. Bush. But for some Democrats    [TGT]   is not reliably liberal enough. â She  has never been the sweetheart of the rodeo â says Garry South  a long-time democratic strategist in California.
In 1990  when   [TGT]   was running for California governor    [TGT] was booed at the state Democratic convention after expressing support for the death penalty.   [TGT]   voted to authorise the use of force in Iraq and for the Patriot Act  a Bush-era law that expanded the authority of law enforcement agencies to spy on Americans. More recently  progressive protestors gathered outside   [TGT] San Francisco mansion to rail against   [TGT]   support of some of Donald Trumpâs cabinet nominees.  [TGT] show me some spine â read one demonstratorâs sign. âObstruct or go home â read another.
  [TGT] age has also played a part in   [TGT]   failure to excite Democratic activists.  The senator  turns 85 this summer. If re-elected  she  would be 90 by the end of  her  term. Some Democrats think the time has come for  her  to step aside. As  she  wrapped up  her  speech at the convention  music began playing to signal that  her  allotted time had elapsed. âI guess my time is up â   [TGT] remarked  to which some members of the audience responded with a chant: âYour time is up! Your time is up!â After the convention results were announced Mr de LeÃ³n wrote in a Twitter post: âThe outcome of last nightâs endorsement vote is an astounding rejection of politics as usual. A signal to Washington that we stand shoulder-to-shoulder against a complacent status quo.â
The convention result is not necessarily a harbinger of things to come in the June primary or the November general election. California has a top-two primary system for state-wide elections; every eligible candidate from every party participates in the same primary. The top two contenders face off against one another in the general election regardless of their party affiliation. This year  that will probably result in a general election that pits   [TGT] . Despite   [TGT]   lack of appeal among party activists    [TGT] still seems likely to prevail over   [TGT]   pugnacious rival among voters.
A survey published in January by the Public Policy Institute of California  a polling group  found that   [TGT] led Mr de LeÃ³n by nearly 30 percentage pointsâthough a third of voters were undecided. The same poll found that 45% of probable voters do not know who Mr de LeÃ³n is and 20% felt they didnât know enough about him to have an opinion. Only 7% said they had not heard of   [TGT]  . And   [TGT]   war chest dwarfs Mr de LeÃ³nâs by a multiple of 27. For now it looks as though the establishment will remain just that.