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Ode to a Centrist Democrat: Goodbye Sen. Dianne Feinstein
“Senator Dianne Feinstein was a pioneering American and a true trailblazer,” said the White House.
“Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, an advocate for liberal priorities, dies at age 90,” Michael R. Blood and Mary Clare Jalonick reported the terrible news for the Associated Press early Friday morning.
“Her death came after a bout of shingles sidelined her for more than two months earlier this year — an absence that drew frustration from her most liberal critics and launched an unsuccessful attempt by Democrats to temporarily replace her on the Senate Judiciary Committee,” wrote the pair. “When she returned to the Senate in May, she was frail and using a wheelchair, voting only occasionally.”
“Dianne Feinstein, longest-serving female US senator in history, dies at 90,” announced CNN’s Clare Foran and Paul LeBlanc.
“Feinstein, a former mayor of San Francisco, was a leading figure in California politics for decades and became a national face of the Democratic Party following her first election to the US Senate in 1992,” continued Foran and LeBlanc. “She broke a series of glass ceilings throughout her political career and her influence was felt strongly in some of Capitol Hill’s most consequential works in recent history, including the since-lapsed federal assault weapons ban in 1994 and the 2014 CIA torture report.”
“Sadly, Senator Feinstein passed away last night at her home in Washington, D.C.,” Sen. Feinstein’s chief of staff James Sauls said in an official statement. “Her passing is a great loss for so many, from those who loved and cared for her to the people of California that she dedicated her life to serving.”
“Senator Feinstein never backed away from a fight for what was just and right,” wrote Sauls. “At the same time, she was always willing to work with anyone, even those she disagreed with, if it meant bettering the lives of Californians or the betterment of our nation.”
“Senator Dianne Feinstein was a pioneering American and a true trailblazer,” agreed the White House in a statement. “In San Francisco, she showed enormous poise and courage in the wake of tragedy and became a powerful voice for American values.”
