Feinstein needs to do the right thing and not seek reelection

Today we answer questions about ageism, sexism and the contest to succeed Dianne Feinstein in the U.S. Senate.

So now that Feinstein is retiring, the race is underway!

Whoa. Feinstein has yet to state her intentions. She said she'll announce this spring whether she plans to retire at the end of her term in January 2025 or seek reelection.

Feinstein is 89, which makes her the oldest member of the U.S. Senate. The next-oldest senator, Iowa's Charles E. Grassley, also 89, was reelected in November after facing token opposition in the GOP primary.

Feinstein, by contrast, has already drawn two serious challengers within her party, Democratic Reps. Katie Porter and Adam B. Schiff. Rep. Barbara Lee has told congressional colleagues she plans to run. Sounds like sexism to me. It's not.

Unlike Grassley, Feinstein has faced questions about her performance in the face of a decline in mental capacity. She's gotten by with a lot of help from Senate staff and I, for one, argued that barring obvious incapacity, Feinstein deserves to finish her term.

But running again would be a terrible idea. She's clearly not up for the rigors of a campaign — much less another six years in the Senate — and would surely, and deservedly, lose her try for reelection.

Feinstein's would-be successors have shown her plenty of deference. But this is politics, Jake. It's going to take a lot of time for candidates to raise the money and build the statewide name recognition they need to seriously compete in a primary that's just about a year off.

And let's be honest. Feinstein's mental lapses have been chronicled at length in great, sometimes painful detail. Jockeying to replace her has been quietly underway for some time, with prospective candidates hiring staff, traveling the state, collecting political chits and doing everything short of hanging a big neon sign declaring their intentions.

When Democrat Barbara Boxer announced her intention to retire after 2016, the biggest question was which new office Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris, frenemies from their days starting out in San Francisco politics, would pursue.

And even then Feinstein's age came into play. There were doubts she would run again in 2018 and, given Harris' perceived advantages, most potential rivals decided it was better to wait and see rather than take the front-runner on.

Given California's political coloration, the state's next U.S. senator will surely be one of the Democrats running. And from a substantive standpoint, there is no dramatic separation between the candidates on most of the major issues they would face in office.

So the next year of campaigning will be devoted to turning small differences into major distinctions and tearing down the character of one another.

You can expect a lot of negativity as the candidates and their supporters focus on style, the contestants' personal backgrounds and such fine-grained distinctions as being a “warrior” (Porter) versus a “fighter” (Schiff).

Aren't you being a bit negative? Facts are facts.

Schiff had been in the Senate race for, oh, all of 10 minutes when he came under attack from progressive activists for being too centrist — which, not incidentally, was the criticism Feinstein faced from fellow Democrats throughout her career.

So get ready. If you enjoyed watching Bernie Sanders take on Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, you'll love California's Senate race.

Speaking, again, of candidates of a certain age …

You're referring to Barbara Lee?

Exactly.

She's 76. She'll be 78 on election day in 2024.

Katie Porter is 49. Schiff is 62. So, obviously, age is the big issue that Lee faces — especially running to take Feinstein's place.

Her response, according to the San Francisco Chronicle's Joe Garofoli, will be a pledge to serve just a single term, as a kind of bridge to a new generation of leaders.

Funny thing is not long ago — when the septuagenarian Jerry Brown was governor and California's two U.S. Senate seats were held by politicians north of 70, there was all sorts of clamor for fresh blood and a desire for the state's geriatric leadership to stand aside and give other, younger politicians a chance to serve. Maybe everything old is new again.