Dianne Feinstein’s Finest Moment

Dianne Feinstein, the longest-serving senator in California’s history, passed away today at the age of 90. Most obituaries will likely focus on her response to the 1978 assassinations of then-mayor George Moscone and member of the San Francisco board of supervisors — of which Feinstein was president — and gay-rights activist Harvey Milk. Thrust into the mayoralty, she is remembered for playing no small part in helping her city move through an exceptionally dark time in its fraught history.

But her finest moment as senator came four decades later. In February 2019, climate-advocacy group the Sunrise Movement — one of the most annoying activist organizations in existence — sicced a group of doe-eyed children on Feinstein, apparently expecting its juvenile proxies’ youthful exuberance and plucky charm to win the senator over to its side on support for the Green New Deal.

About the Author

Zach Kessel

Zach Kessel was a William F. Buckley Jr. Fellow in Political Journalism and a recent graduate of Northwestern University.

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Dianne Feinstein, the longest-serving senator in California’s history, passed away today at the age of 90. Most obituaries will likely focus on her response to the 1978 assassinations of then-mayor George Moscone and member of the San Francisco board of supervisors — of which Feinstein was president — and gay-rights activist Harvey Milk. Thrust into the mayoralty, she is remembered for playing no small part in helping her city move through an exceptionally dark time in its fraught history.

But her finest moment as senator came four decades later. In February 2019, climate-advocacy group the Sunrise Movement — one of the most annoying activist organizations in existence — sicced a group of doe-eyed children on Feinstein, apparently expecting its juvenile proxies’ youthful exuberance and plucky charm to win the senator over to its side on support for the Green New Deal.