Feinstein Faces Censure At CDP E-Board

Progressives are angry with Dianne Feinstein to a degree that I've never seen before. She followed up the Leslie Southwick nomination with the Michael Mukasey nomination, and this week she may tip the balance on telecom immunity in the Senate Judiciary Committee. This weekend, at the California Democratic Party executive board meeting, she may get a reprimand.

One day after voting to elevate a divisive conservative judge to the federal appeals court in New Orleans, President Bush invited California Sen. Dianne Feinstein aboard Air Force One to survey the damage from the recent spate of Southern California wildfires.

The senator later remarked privately that she found her conversation with Bush aboard Air Force One "illuminating," a source close to Feinstein told the Huffington Post [...]

Now, a coalition of progressive Democrats upset with Feinstein's controversial votes will ask the California Democratic Party to censure her at its executive board meeting this weekend, the Huffington Post has learned.

The move comes as Feinstein again finds herself under fire for saying Thursday that she now supports granting legal immunity to telecom companies that shared customer email and phone messages with the federal government as part of the warrantless surveillance program.

"Dianne Feinstein does not listen to the people of California," said Rick Jacobs, president of the Courage Campaign, a progressive organization in California. "She supports George Bush's agenda time after time."

Knowing what I know about the e-board, this is not likely to pass. And if it did, it's not likely to mean anything or change any opinion. But it's a symbol of exactly how upset the grassroots is with Feinstein, and how they are grasping for something to express their disapproval.