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RIP, Diane Feinstein
Sep. 29th, 2023 05:01 pmSenator Diane Feinstein passed away today. She was aged 90.
Feinstein had been an icon in politics for decades. She was the oldest member of the Senate, the longest-serving female senator and the longest-serving senator from California. But her political career and reputation as a trailblazer for women in politics started long before her first Senate victory in 1992.
In 1969 Feinstein won election to the San Francisco Board of County Supervisors. Journalists in the media at the time were disgusting with the sexist tropes they promulgated. They wrote about wondering "who wears the pants" in her family and asked her then-husband if he felt "humbled or intimidated" by her success. (To his credit, Dr. Feinstein responded that he felt neither.) But what journos missed with their sexist sneering and offensive questions was that the people of San Francisco had elected her. They were not representing the people of San Francisco with their reporting, they were representing a biased minority.
Nine years after that Feinstein became Mayor of San Francisco under grim circumstances. On November 27, 1978, Mayor George Moscone and and Supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated— by a fellow county supervisor, no less. The duty fell to Feinstein, who by then was President of the Board, to announce the sad news on the steps of City Hall. As board president she became acting mayor, and a week later the board appointed her to finish Moscone's term. She later was reelected mayor twice.
Two things define Feinstein's long political career: persistence and bipartisanship. While working her way up through politics starting in the 1960s she doggedly pursued her duties and aspirations, not letting insults or roadblocks deter her. She not only endured countless slights along the way but bounced back from several lost elections. She lost her first bid to become a county supervisor, she ran and lost a race for mayor (before later becoming mayor by appointment and then winning reelection), and she ran and lost a race for governor. Despite people opposing her for her politics (though she was always a centrist Democrat) and her gender she remained steadfast in reaching across the aisle to find political consensus. As one of her contemporaries said many years ago, ironically thinking it was an insult more than a compliment, "Diane wasn't in politics, she was in government." We need more politicians like that today.
Feinstein had been an icon in politics for decades. She was the oldest member of the Senate, the longest-serving female senator and the longest-serving senator from California. But her political career and reputation as a trailblazer for women in politics started long before her first Senate victory in 1992.
In 1969 Feinstein won election to the San Francisco Board of County Supervisors. Journalists in the media at the time were disgusting with the sexist tropes they promulgated. They wrote about wondering "who wears the pants" in her family and asked her then-husband if he felt "humbled or intimidated" by her success. (To his credit, Dr. Feinstein responded that he felt neither.) But what journos missed with their sexist sneering and offensive questions was that the people of San Francisco had elected her. They were not representing the people of San Francisco with their reporting, they were representing a biased minority.
Nine years after that Feinstein became Mayor of San Francisco under grim circumstances. On November 27, 1978, Mayor George Moscone and and Supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated— by a fellow county supervisor, no less. The duty fell to Feinstein, who by then was President of the Board, to announce the sad news on the steps of City Hall. As board president she became acting mayor, and a week later the board appointed her to finish Moscone's term. She later was reelected mayor twice.
Two things define Feinstein's long political career: persistence and bipartisanship. While working her way up through politics starting in the 1960s she doggedly pursued her duties and aspirations, not letting insults or roadblocks deter her. She not only endured countless slights along the way but bounced back from several lost elections. She lost her first bid to become a county supervisor, she ran and lost a race for mayor (before later becoming mayor by appointment and then winning reelection), and she ran and lost a race for governor. Despite people opposing her for her politics (though she was always a centrist Democrat) and her gender she remained steadfast in reaching across the aisle to find political consensus. As one of her contemporaries said many years ago, ironically thinking it was an insult more than a compliment, "Diane wasn't in politics, she was in government." We need more politicians like that today.
