Thread by @danielmarans

My one critique of the excellent @JaneMayerNYer report on Feinstein's decline is that she is a little too soft on Democrats for not nudging her out in 2018 ... newyorker.com/news/news-desk…

... Sure, Feinstein may have insisted on running again, but it was Democrats' choice to rally to her side against @kdeleon, an accomplished legislator and the son of Guatemalan immigrants.

This was Exhibit 1,783 in how the Democratic establishment selectively uses racial representation when it suits its interests.

Other examples include backing Cuomo over Nixon and Rahm over Chuy Garcia.

It's true that the Republican Party is, overall, more irresponsible when it comes to governance and respect for American institutions.

But Dems actually have a worse gerontocracy problem. Compare the ages of top House leaders in either party. And the Dem Senate seniority rules.

We're now looking at the possibility of two Senate seats that California Gov. Newsom will have the chance to appoint rather than leave to an open contest for voters. How he handles it will say a lot about "democracy" in the Democratic Party.

If what happened in Georgia is any guide, Dem leaders prefer to pass seats around rather than let candidates scramble for open seats.

To succeed John Lewis, the state party tapped ... the state party chair, who will run as an incumbent in 2022: huffpost.com/entry/georgia-…

This is of course a legitimate issue and one that voters could have decided on in either an open race or one without the entire Democratic establishment backing Feinstein:

https://twitter.com/J_fassler/status/1337083196962435072

More on criticism of de León's record handling sexual harassment accountability measures from a site without a paywall: politico.com/story/2018/09/…