Is Dianne Feinstein too old to run for re-election?

Sacramento Bee ^ | January 8, 2018 | BY EMILY CADEI

[Oldeconomybuyer]

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s age has become an increasingly unavoidable part of her biography.

“At age 84, Dianne Feinstein is the oldest of the 100 United States senators,” Los Angeles Times columnist Harold Meyerson began a July op-ed that argued she shouldn’t run for re-election. A December Washington Post article also highlighted that Feinstein is the oldest member of “the oldest Senate ever.” Saturday Night Live even featured the veteran Democratic lawmaker – or rather, an impersonation of her – in a November skit mocking Democrats’ bid to repackage their aging leaders as fresh new faces.

Now, as she gears up for a race that would keep her in office until the age of 91, Feinstein’s biggest challenge may be to prove to voters that she hasn’t lost a step – or lost touch with Californians’ values.

Feinstein’s main challenger, state Senate President Kevin de León, and his allies are trying their best to sow doubts about the latter, while insisting they are not going after the senator’s age. It requires walking a tricky rhetorical tightrope.

Polling, however, shows California voters have some doubts. In a September 2017 poll from the Public Policy Institute of California, less than half of likely voters said Feinstein should run again. A poll from the University of California, Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies last spring found that highlighting the senator’s age caused a drop in support for her re-election.

Still, she maintains a comfortable, if not commanding, lead over the 51-year-old de León in recent head-to-head matchups.

The Los Angeles Democrat has made the generational difference between himself and Feinstein a central plank of his long-shot challenge. Because of the state’s top-two primary system, where the top two finishers advance to the general election, de León is poised to be Feinstein’s opponent next November.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Oldeconomybuyer.

Feinstein's main challenger, state Senate President Kevin de León, ...The Los Angeles Democrat has made the generational difference... a central plank of his long-shot challenge. Because of the state's top-two primary system, where the top two finishers advance to the general election, de León is poised to be Feinstein's opponent next November.

Single party state ping.