Feinstein eyeing run?
Senator drops hint about a fifth term in interview with KQED, but her staff says words were taken out of context
Whether or not U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein intends to seek a fifth term seemed to move closer to a “yes” than a “no” on Wednesday after a Bay Area reporter who interviewed her in Washington, D.C., tweeted out that it appears she will be running again.
But a Feinstein spokesman quickly claimed her words were taken out of context.
“Talking with @KQEDnews @DianneFeinstein, told she sounds like a candidate, says ‘that’s true. I’ll make it formal at the appropriate time,’ ” tweeted
Scott Shafer, a senior editor at KQED-FM. Shafer’s tweet, which rippled to all corners of California, was welcomed by Feinstein’s legion of supporters, though it no doubt dashed the ambitions of many other wannabe senators hoping to replace the 83-year-old Feinstein, who last week was fitted with a pacemaker for her heart. But Feinstein spokesman Tom Mentzer cautioned against reading too much into her words.
“The operative quote was the initial quote,” he said.
Mentzer said Shafer had asked his boss if she had made up her mind about running for re-election.
To which Feinstein replied, “No. I will. But I haven’t right at the moment.”
Said Mentzer: “She said she will make her decision formal. She was not announcing that she will run again.”
But when Shafer later posted a portion of the audio interview online, it appeared obvious that Shafer had drawn the correct conclusion. At the end of the interview, Shafer told Feinstein: “And to me it sounds like you’re ready to run for re-election.”
And Feinstein responded, “Well, that’s sort of true.” Shafer then asked if she will make that formal next year, and Feinstein answered, “I’ll make it formal ... at an appropriate time.”
There were further clues this week that Feinstein is ready to seek re-election. During the back and forth with Shafer, Feinstein, the oldest member of the Senate, said that as long as she feels she “can get things done — and I can — then I think I benefit the people of my state.”
That’s pretty close to what she told the Los Angeles Times last March, after the newspaper asked if she would run for re-election. Feinstein told the newspaper to check with her in a year. “My health is good,” Feinstein said at the time. “I can work hard and continue it. Being effective is the key for me.”
On Tuesday, the Times reported that Feinstein has raised money to run for a fifth term. The story said that in November supporters wrote checks of up to $1,000 to “Feinstein for Senate 2018” to attend a campaign dinner at Charlie Palmer’s Steakhouse in Washington, D.C., according to an invitation obtained by The Times. The newspaper also reported that she also has planned two re-election kickoff fundraisers in San Francisco and Los Angeles in mid-March.
Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a veteran political analyst at the University of Southern California, said the level of interest in Feinstein’s future plans increased after the news broke that she had a pacemaker implanted in her chest.
“It brought her and her longevity and her health into focus,” said Jeffe, who also noted how quickly Feinstein bounced back a few days later to vigorously take on Kansas Congressman Mike Pompeo, Presidentelect Donald Trump’s pick for CIA director. “If you’re ready to call it quits, I don’t think you do that — hitting back so hard,” she said.
Until Feinstein announces her decision, Jeffe said, “no one is officially in the pack or at the head of the pack at this time.”
Still, speculation about possible replacements has been all over the map — and the media — said Jeffe. She mentioned Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, who some political observers say has been trying to raise his media profile of late. Jeffe called Schiff “one of the more rational voices on Capitol Hill on intelligence and national security.”
Another name Jeffe brought up was that of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, whose shares the same campaign consultant as Feinstein: Bill Carrick. Another possible candidate is billionaire Tom Steyer, a San Francisco environmentalist and former hedge fund manager. Three top Democrats — Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Treasurer John Chiang — are running for governor in 2018. And Steyer hasn’t ruled out jumping into that race as well.