California Democrats toss Sen. Feinstein under bus, endorsing rival De León in Senate Race
Not so much a step to the left, but one giant leap into the progressive abyss
It appears that the recent and entirely unexpected defeat of Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY), the number 4 Democrat in the House, at the hands of newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a far-left progressive who organized for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) during his presidential run, has sent shock waves through the country that have finally hit California.
Earlier this year, the California Democratic Party declined to endorse a candidate in the race for the U. S. Senate seat currently held by Dianne Feinstein. Now, the party has gone all-in for her much younger and far more progressive rival, Kevin de León.
California Democratic Party leaders took a step to the left Saturday night, endorsing liberal state lawmaker Kevin de León for Senate in a stinging rebuke of Democratic icon Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
De León’s victory reflected the increasing strength of the state party’s liberal activist core, which was energized by the election of Republican President Trump.
The endorsement was an embarrassment for Feinstein, who is running for a fifth full term, and indicates that Democratic activists in California have soured on her reputation for pragmatism and deference to bipartisanship as Trump and a Republican-led Congress are attacking Democratic priorities on immigration, healthcare and environmental protections.
This is not so much a step to the left, but one giant leap into the progressive abyss. Legal Insurrection readers may recall my warning about León:
…De León spearheaded the Sanctuary State measure that just was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. In fact, he is so progressive that Feinstein seems like a veritable Margaret Thatcher in comparison.
If elected, the rest of the country is in for a real treat! While leading the fight to make California a “sanctuary state,” de León suggested half of his family would be deported for using falsified Social Security cards and other fake identification. According to a new book co-authored by my colleague Katy Grimes, “California’s War Against Donad Trump,” de León’s name was originally Kevin Leon and his has no private work experience, having gotten a start in his political life by being a community organizer for the powerful California Teachers Union.
The good news, such as it is, may be that Feinstein trounced her opposition in the primaries and is likely to do the same to de Leon in a one-on-one battle.
…Feinstein remains a strong favorite for November — she won 44 percent in the June top-two primary to De León’s 12 percent, and has a sizable fundraising advantage.
“While 217 delegates expressed their view today, Senator Feinstein won by 2.1 million votes and earned 70% of the Democratic vote in the California Primary election, carrying every county by double digits over her opponent,” Feinstein campaign manager Jeff Millman said Saturday. “We are confident that a large majority of California Democrats will vote to reelect Senator Feinstein in November.”
However, the endorsement means de León gets to be the poster-child for the “new” Democratic Party, have his face pictured in all the mailers and ads, and be featured in all the email blasts. Furthermore, his campaign will be able to jointly raise money with the party.
A check of social media shows that Feinstein will be supported by voters in this state who do not find the new version of the Democratic Party appealing, no matter what their party affiliation is.
California Democrats Reject Sen. Feinstein – Endorse Far Left Radical Kevin de Leon Instead…
De Leon, an immigrants rights activist, received 65% of the party elite’s vote.
Feinstein received only 7% of the vote.
California, a once great state, is lost! Time to #WalkAway——-— Barbara Santana (@Barbara96913515) July 15, 2018
de Leon is way too far to the left. I am a Republican and admit to voting for Feinstein all these years. Why? She was a moderate and could reach out to the other side. de leon is just too far to the left and this is the problem today in politics. Calif deep trouble w/ de Leon
— Cal_gal53 (@cal_gal53) July 15, 2018
Why do people act like a couple hundred delegate votes to hold more significance than the > 2 million more votes that Feinstein got than de Leon in the actual primary election? #CADems
— Melissa (@IntrovertRN1975) July 15, 2018
However, be prepared for the media to feature de León as the attractive, new star of the Democratic Party!
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Comments
He goes from “Leon” to “de Léon” — why? Does he want to be nicknamed “Ponce?”
How about: “Dear Leader de Leon.”
He’d like that.
Yep: Kevin Alexander Leon. Not Hispanic enough?
Has Feinstein underperformed or is this demographic diversity?
first thing is, she’s old.
second thing is, she’s never gone full retard in public, which is apparently a requirement for the Demonrats here in #Failifornia these days.
they want someone totes down with the revolution, no holds bared, and they want it now.
She’s 85. Time to go.
But she doesn’t even have any gray hair! /sarc
I suspect there are a lot of factors behind this. The party operatives are desperate for something that feels new, including having more youth in the elected ranks. For whatever reason, they’ve decided that the Dem Socialist bandwagon is the place to be. So for Feinstein, she fails the test because she isn’t on the wagon, is old, and is a supporter of the older people in the party for leadership (Pelosi, Schumer, etc.).
The Great Replacement has finally come for the Democrats. Has everyone forgotten about Ocasio? It’ll be interesting to see how many come over the White party and how many will be useful idiots ’till the end.
i’m delighted…
instead of an evil crone with decades of seniority that can push dangerous legislation, we’re going to have a zero time in grade fool who can only propose idiocies and blather stupidities.
since it’s a given they would both vote the same way on key issues, this is a net win for both #Failifornia & the US, IMHO.
Good riddance. Feinstein is the financier behind the continuing effort to smear Trump with the Russian/Collusion story via a former aide who left just for these purposes.
http://thefederalist.com/2018/04/27/confirmed-former-feinstein-staffer-hired-fusion-gps-christopher-steele/
I think that de Léon should have the Robert Lee treatment applied to his name. I mean, come on – the commercials are all-but made on how de Léon hates native peoples and wants to claim all the land for Spain!
Well, Mexico. No need to exaggerate.
I live around a lot of liberals and a fair number of “modern progressives”. So I’ve heard a lot about how this shift for the Dems in 2018 is their version of the Tea Party. They see the TP as hard right pushing the GOP to a more conservative place (although most of us know it was just talk to get elected for many). The Dem Socialist movement is their equivalent, so they think.
But I keep pointing out they are very different. One was almost entirely grassroots, met with extreme resistance by the party and the elites, and having very little impact on leadership. By contrast, the Dem Socialist movement is almost all top down, a path chosen by a small number of operatives and elites. They are having to promote and market it in order to grow support for it. The grassroots is not entirely the Bernie Bros, because many of them are sort of okay with Trump for now.
As I see it, the constant shouting down from the top within their own party now has the Left completely separated from reality. They were shocked that Trump one because they didn’t realize that people told them one thing, in person or in the polls, just so they would shut-up and go away, but then they voted their true feelings in the booth where it counted. The Left is getting to the point where anyone not directly tied to them on the public teat will vote opposite, because it is no longer in their best interests. And sometimes voting opposite also includes voting with the feet. Just as college students are now devouring their profs and administrators, so are the new Leftists devouring the old party bosses, or at least seeing them as target and not allies. And THAT is a good thing. If anyone has some free time, check out the documentary “Lions and Hyenas: Eternal Enemies.” I think it approximates American Politics pretty closely at the moment, as well as being the best animal documentary of all time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl-fPrMK5Dk
Even the left sees Feinstein (and pelosi) as so much corrupt garbage needing to be swept away.
A few years ago, people were speculating that the Republican party might disintegrate, the way the old Whigs did, with all the Conservatives leaving the Republicans to join some newer, more responsive party.
I’m beginning to think that maybe it’s the Dems who are facing disintegration, as all the younger, even more radical people join something like Democratic Socialists.
There isn’t enough popcorn in the world!
“de León suggested half of his family would be deported for using falsified Social Security cards and other fake identification”
If they were using fake ID and SSNs, why shouldn’t they be deported?
If you assemble a coalition of the fringes don’t be surprised if they want to grab the driver’s seat. Explicitly pander votes by ethnicity and they’ll vote that way.
Surprise! Move over whitey Singapore politics have come to home to the democrats.
Keep in mind, Leon is not actually going to be elected.
I hope you’re, but … that’s what everyone said about Donald Trump and we all know how that worked out!
Melissa’s tweet at the end poses a n excellent question. The answer is that party endorsements are necessary because the state has ended its closed primary, in which party members make the nomination. Under the current “top two” scheme, we now have no Republican candidate for US senate, hence a party endorsement needed to provided voter guidance in the general election.
While I agree that the endorsement in de Leon’s case was made by a small number of radical leftist party insiders, those people forget that the shrinking but still significant number of Republican voters will vote overwhelmingly for Feinstein. I can’t see how she loses.
Posted this in the Readers Forum. It’s at the bottom of the DSAUSA web page.
DSA was concerned to find out that the company that provides our website
and online organizing infrastructure, NationBuilder,
had as a client the Trump campaign and other right-wing candidates.
Progressives built this kind of infrastructure and tools for digital organizing and we have now lost that organizing edge. We are moving to identify other options for a CMS/CRM. As an under-resourced, member funded organization, this move will take time for us to carry out, but it is an important statement for us to make.
Perhaps Feinstein should take a page from Joe Lieberman’s playbook and switch to “Independent”?
So, this De Leon fellow – jacking up his name to appear Hispanic (or just MORE Hispanic?!?) – is a sad sign of the times – and why I no longer vote in CA, especially with the top-two Primary winners in the General election. It’s all Demonrat, and the CA GOP is in sad shape, indeed! I feel no allegiance to this lost communist state whatsoever! But I moved here because the weather is wonderful – and, thank God, it’s free and non-taxable!! So, there, Gov. Moonbeam!! But if I were rich and/or had a big income, I’d probably have to move out in a NY minute!
I suggest that a better option for Californian conservatives than not voting (or voting for Democrats) would be to institute an organized effort to select a consensus write-in candidate. At least you’d have some sort of gauge of your own strength or lack thereof.