Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has been in the Senate for nearly 31 years and has drawn a government paycheck funded by taxpayers for all but a couple of years since 1970 — more than half a century.
On Thursday, the senator turned 90. You’d think the liberal media would blanket her with plaudits, but CNN did just the opposite, publishing a lengthy piece about Feinstein’s dismal health and lack of engagement with her job.
The lead was brutal: “Sen. Dianne Feinstein has grown isolated over the years from most members of her California delegation and other Democrats in her home state, feeding a discontent among allies who tell CNN they now wish for a more engaged and energetic senior senator.”
Senior CNN correspondent Edward-Isaac Dovere said CNN spoke with every House member from California and few had anything good to say about Feinstein, whom they painted as aloof and disengaged from the issues most pressing to state residents.
“They wish she could give advice and collaborate, tackling issues proactively as an active partner in the Senate. They’re bitter about it – and some also tell CNN that the situation means their constituents haven’t been getting the work they elected their senior senator to do,” reporter Dovere wrote.
Feinstein has been unplugged for quite some time. In March, Feinstein suffered an outbreak of shingles that spread to her face and neck, causing vision and balance impairments as well as facial paralysis.
The virus also brought on a case of encephalitis, a swelling of the brain that can leave sufferers with long-term memory or language problems, sleep disorders, bouts of confusion, mood disorders, and difficulties walking.
When Feinstein returned to the Senate in mid-May, she was in a wheelchair, with “the left side of her face frozen and one eye nearly shut, she seemed disoriented as an aide steered her through the marble corridors of the Senate, complaining audibly that something was stuck in her eye,” The New York Times reported.
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The senator often doesn’t know where she is. When she returned to work, reporters asked her how her colleagues greeted her, but she thought she’d never been gone. “No, I’ve been here. I’ve been voting.” Then she feigned umbrage. “Please. You either know or don’t know.”
The mainstream media has long protected Feinstein, who has been increasingly out of it for the last decade. But CNN went after her hard, making it clear that liberals no longer have her back.
Dovere spoke to one California House member, “granted anonymity to speak frankly,” who said, “The situation is very frustrating, but also very clear.”
“Californians should have two responsive, active senators,” the member said. “And they don’t.”
State voters are already tired of Feinstein — a poll released this month found a majority think she should resign.
The Inside California Politics/Emerson College survey found 63% think she should go, while 37% say she should stay. The same poll found just 22% approve of the job Feinstein is doing, while 48% disapprove.
“Older voters are more likely than younger voters to say Feinstein should resign: 68% of voters over 50 think the Senator should resign compared to 58% of voters under 50 who say the same,” said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling.
Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) has reportedly opened a “soft inquiry” to fill Feinstein’s seat should she retire before the end of her term in 2025.
Newsom isn’t openly searching, a “person involved in the conversation” told Vanity Fair. Instead, the governor is asking: “If somehow one of California’s U.S. Senate seats was vacant, would you be interested in filling it?”
Feinstein has already said she will not seek re-election in 2024, which means her term will end in January 2025. The question now is, with voters turning on her — along with the liberal media — can she make it until then?
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.