Ageism. Sexism. Term limits mania. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s announcement Monday that the U.S. Senate’s oldest member will run for another six-year term roused all kinds of biases.
But fans still exist.
A month ago, @feistybunnygirl tweeted what many are now saying: “If you’re commenting on Dianne Feinstein’s age, but still supporting a Bernie 2020 run, please feel free to sit on 7,000 thumb tacks.”
Another tack is to call for new blood.
“By the time Feinstein finishes her next term she will be over 90 years old. Give California a break, Senator!” said “liberal and proud” @PaRock of West Plains, Missouri, a grandfather. “Let a new generation serve!”
“I am running for reelection to the Senate. Lots more to do: ending gun violence, combating climate change, access to healthcare, I’m all in!” Feinstein tweeted in her reelection announcement.
Her announcement comes amid complaints from leftist critics that her moderate nature isn’t the right fit for a state that feels the brunt of Trump administration policies.
But California’s senior senator, a Democratic party stalwart, is leaning on her record as the first woman to be the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee and her role on the Senate Intelligence Committee as the reasons she should stay in office, the Los Angeles Times reported.
She was first elected in 1992 to fill a vacancy for two years, then elected four more times to full six-year Senate terms.
Feinstein has taken a leading role in efforts against gun violence, sponsoring an assault weapons ban in the 1990s and more recently the proposed ban on the modification used in the Las Vegas shooting that allows a semiautomatic weapon to perform like an automatic.
For months, she’s been coy about her reelection plans, telling NBCs Chuck Todd in an interview on “Meet the Press” Sunday: “You are going to find out about that very shortly.”