The other people who want the job will be pissed. And they are powerful CA democrats you don’t want to hate you when you’re a powerful CA democrat going for POTUS in 2028.
The problem is that the Black political community in CA seems to be substantially lining up behind Lee - finding a placeholder willing to buck that line might be difficult. Anyone of stature (like Karen Bass, a previously considered possible appointee) might be too ambitious to trust not to run, anyone not of stature might be too timid to want to piss off Lee and her allies.
Maxine Waters might be a solid choice in a sense because she has stature/seniority in the Congressional Black Caucus and is 84 and thus unlikely to want to run for a full term. She’s also a shitty choice because she’s 84 
. Which is better than 89, but…y’know (I suppose it’s worth mentioning Lee is soon to be 77). Also, Waters might still tell Newsom, ‘no - pick Lee.’ It would likely have to be negotiated with Lee.
I’m sure Newsom’s staff is working frantically behind the scenes to come up with solutions. But I don’t think a placeholder choice is a gimme, because there may not be an acceptable option to all parties involved to be had.
Anything is pretty unlikely to include a Republican senator though. Not impossible, but unlikely. The problems for the Republicans in CA is any candidate with the wherewithal to potentially win a statewide election (an increasingly tall ask even before the Age of Trump) is unlikely to make to through the hyper-partisan primary and vice-versa.
By definition a republican will make it through the republican primary.
We all thought Trump had zero chance to be president and look where that got us.
I’m not sure it is wise to roll those dice these days if you do not have to.
If Newsom says privately “I’m going to live up to my word and appoint a black woman to fill out Feinstein’s term. If you (black pols) won’t give me a name besides Lee, then I’ll find a black independent or even a Republican woman to take the job who isn’t afraid of your withdrawing your support in the future” he cuts off their power over him. Honestly, I think there is a black female Democrat in the state of California who’ll accept Newsom’s offer, and all he needs is one. As stated above, if I were a black female Democrat in California, I’d jump at the chance to be a US Senator for a year and a half.
CA has had a jungle primary system since 2010. In 2016 and 2018 it was Democrat vs Democrat. In 2022 a Republican advanced (and was crushed) because no serious Democrat chose to challenge Padilla.
Agreed. If he feels he is boxed in by a previous statement, then he’s not much of a politician.
As a fellow (ex-)governor once said ‘I’ve got this thing and it’s (expletive) golden’.
How’d that work out?
Eight years in federal prison (his term shortened because Trump commuted his sentence), though he did get to front a rock band while he was in prison, so it’s all good. 
Exactly! In addition to what @kenobi_65 posted, we got a placeholder Dem for 22 months followed by a loss to the GOP.
A good argument against giving a Senator’s seat to just anyone.
It worked out well for Burris though. He got to add another accomplishment to his crypt.
He was a buffoon at it.
Most politicians know how to grift money without being overt enough about it to go to jail for it.
IIRC I saw that senator Kyrsten Sinema had a net worth of $32,500 in 2018 and is now considered to have a net worth of $11 million today, All on a senator’s salary of $175,000/year. Try to do that math.
The grift is totally doable. Some people are just bad at it as you noted.
Fer crying out loud - what is with these old farts insisting on running things well past any reasonable retirement age?! I have every expectation Lee is a very impressive 77 year old. But I would also wager that there is no shortage of equally impressive black women in their 40s and 50s who could have far greater mental and physical stamina - and likely far greater mental flexibility.
I am really ready to see a lot more substantially younger major players. Congress is far too important for these old farts to treat it as an extended “lifetime achievement award.”
In times past it could be a longer, slower climb into political prominence, especially for Black women. There aren’t a ton of still active Black female politicians, even in CA, with any experience at the Federal level. Karen Bass, current mayor of LA, used to be in the House - she’s 69. Then there’s Lee, 77 and Waters, 84. Sydney Kamlager-Dove is a new representative at 52, but she’s a somewhat green first termer.
At the statewide level there is Secretary of State Shirley Weber (originally a Newsom appointee to replace Newsom Senate appointee Padilla), who is 75. The new State Controller (a not terribly visible position) is Malia Cohen, another presumed Newsom loyalist from his SF mayor days who is a young 46.
Then you have to dip down into the comparative minor leagues of the CA State Assembly (a few), CA State Senate (a couple) and other mayors. For example London Breed, mayor of SF, is about 50.
So what I’m reading is that Newsom made a promise that he never expected to be called on, and doesn’t want to keep, and that’s why Newsom doesn’t want Feinstein to resign.
I’m also reading that if he chose to keep that promise, that’s an obvious person to aunt, and he could do it ASAP. And… Would that person be allowed to vote in the Senate? I think the answer is yes, but i certainly don’t understand how these things work. But the Republicans are in a much stronger position blocking “shuffling committee appointments”, which is unusual, than in “preventing a duly selected senator from sitting”, which happens pretty often.
Your statement implies that Feinstein herself has no agency, and that’s incorrect. In fact, absent some legal finding and judgment that Feinstein is incompetent to make her own decisions, hers is the only opinion that matters. It’s not up to Newsom at all.
It may be that her wishes and his happen to align on this issue, but that’s a far cry from attributing all this to a failure on Newsom’s part.
I didn’t mean to imply anything about Feinstein. Yes, she is the person who has the power to resign or hang in there. (Or maybe her handlers. It sounds like she’s pretty far gone.) But Newsom was discussed, and his preferences may have some political weight.
Newsom’s power begins and ends in the State of California. While he may find himself in the position of exerting a lot of power should Feinstein choose to step down – which at present, is pie in the sky – his preferences on these matters count for little with respect to what happens in the US Senate.
I agree that Feinstein is pretty far gone. But until someone is able to force a competency proceeding, it’s a moot point.
Of course we’re not going to have a competency proceeding–no one wants that.
Plainly Newsom’s move is to talk to Feinstein’s closest three or four advisors, give them soft places to land if she resigns, and have them influence her decision. If she stubbornly says “No,” there’s not much to be done practically. But there are a lot of advantages to her saying Yes, including looking out for her staffers.
If she’s far enough gone, there may even be a possibility of talking her into stepping down without her fully realizing it. “Here, Senator, we’re going to arrange for you to stay in California, and you can talk to Chuck Schumer’s staff on the phone every day and tell them what you want the Senate to do, just sign this little piece of paper authorizing that, right here, no, here, Senator…”
If one believes it has to be a black woman, this source seems to suggest a few possible candidates younger than 60. And, again, if race and gender are the all-important criteria, one could look to the business world.
Maybe I’m feeling my age (62), but I’m not convinced we older folk have done such a bang-up job that we oughtn’t let the younger folk have a chance.
I doubt that Feinstein’s senior staff are going to need Newsom’s help finding a “soft place to land” — they could all probably name their price at various DC lobby shops. There’s really nothing Newsom could offer to entice her to resign.