U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein might have shellacked her upstart opponent Kevin de León (shown) in California’s open primary last month, defeating the radical leftist by 32 points, but de León, who makes Feinstein look moderate, still drew the party’s endorsement on Saturday.
The upstart state senator, a radical open-borders activist, beat Feinstein liked a rented mule, locking up 65 percent of the party leadership’s vote on Saturday in Oakland. Of course, that doesn’t mean de León will win the election. Indeed, if Feinstein’s victory in June is any indication of the support the Hispanic radical has among voters, he is a sure loser.
Indeed, the difference between the strong vote for Feinstein and the party endorsement of de León might just show that the party’s leadership is way out of touch with average voters, and how far to the left party activists have gone.
No matter. De León still thinks he won something: “Earning the endorsement of so many leaders and activists of the California Democratic Party isn’t just an honor and a privilege; today’s vote is a clear-eyed rejection of politics as usual in Washington, D.C. We have presented Californians with the first real alternative to the worn-out Washington playbook in a quarter-century.”
No doubt about that. Feinstein has been in office since 1992.
Feinstein Fought Endorsements
Unsurprisingly, Feinstein said the party’s endorsement of de León was irrelevant given what voters decided in June when they gave the primary victory to Feinstein.
Jeff Millman, Feinstein’s campaign boss, explained it this way, the Sacramento Bee reported: “While 217 delegates expressed their view today, Sen. Feinstein won by 2.1 million votes and earned 70 percent of the Democratic vote in the California Primary election, carrying every county by double digits over her opponent. We are confident that a large majority of California Democrats will vote to re-elect Sen. Feinstein in November.”
Still, as The New American reported last week, Feinstein wasn’t opposed to the party’s endorsement as a matter of principle. Most likely, as de León noted, she knew she would lose, which is exactly what happened.
As the Times noted, the struggle is not just a one-off between Feinstein and the 51-year-old leftist from Los Angeles. It’s a battle between what the Times calls “moderates” and “progressives.”
This was the second go-around for an endorsement fight in the Senate race. Ahead of the primary at the party’s February convention in San Diego, where a larger contingent of 2,700 delegates voted, De León won 54% — short of the 60% required to secure an endorsement. Feinstein received just 37%….
The Feinstein campaign weeks ago launched an aggressive effort to persuade Democrats in Oakland to vote “no endorsement” in the Senate race, flooding delegates with calls and text messages and drafting the help of political surrogates. Six Democratic congressional candidates who are trying to flip Republican-held districts in California joined Feinstein, urging party delegates in a letter to opt not to endorse a candidate.
Party insiders and politically attentive bystanders see the Democrat vs. Democrat Senate fight as evidence of a deepening chasm between the party’s moderates and progressives — a California version of the Democratic battle between Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2016 presidential election.
How Radical Is De León?
De León’s radical politics aren’t just progressive; they’re revolutionary. The night before the endorsement vote that sent Feinstein down in flames, he hosted an Abolish ICE Cream Social. De León wants to abolish ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and sponsored the California law that forbids authorities from cooperating with ICE on collaring illegals.
But that’s not all, as the Times noted:
De León’s campaign has focused on the party’s energized liberal faction. He supports single-payer healthcare, aggressive goals for renewable energy and helped lead the successful effort to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. He has criticized Feinstein, known for having moderate tendencies, for being too conciliatory toward Trump, such as when she urged people to have “patience” with the president last year.
De León, as TNA reported, is one of three Hispanics attempting to overthrow the aging white leadership of the Democratic Party. One of his ideological soulmates is the young Democratic Socialist in New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who defeated Representative Joe Crowley. She, too, wants to abolish ICE and wants tuition-free public college and Medicare for all.
Photo: AP Images
