The Informant

Then-Mayor Feinstein (right) welcomes Queen Elizabeth II to SF.

News came down late yesterday that Senator Dianne Feinstein, who is the closest thing California has to a queen, will co-chair the No on Proposition 19 campaign with LA County Sheriff Lee Baca.

Until now, Feinstein’s opposition to Prop 19 has been (at least seemingly) fairly passive. But this move makes her a figurehead for the campaign against legalization. According to the No on 19 website, Feinstein’s criticism of the measure mostly stems from its vagueness, as well as its potential for unintended consequences:

“’California will not see a single positive result if Proposition 19 passes,’ said Senator Feinstein. ‘It is a poorly constructed initiative that will cause harm to Californians on our roadways, and in our schools, workplaces and communities. I look forward to working with Sheriff Baca to ensure we defeat Proposition 19 in November.’”

San Franciscans know the former Mayor and SF native as historically a bit conservative (some would say prudish) when it comes to vices. A chapter from Jerry Roberts’ 1994 biography, Never Let Them See You Cry, recalls the “white-gloved” image Feinstein acquired from an anti-smut campaign she pioneered leading up to an unsuccessful run for mayor in 1971. Roberts describes how Feinstein first started really thinking about the rise of the Mitchell brothers, San Francisco’s porn kings, at a dinner party:

“The Mitchells were the most prominent among scores of would-be impresarios, as the number of porno movie theaters grew from six to thirty in just eighteen months, amid City Hall whispers that organized crime money was behind some of them. But at the dinner party, one liberal guest applauded the boom, arguing that ‘pornography is in the eye of the beholder, and that anyone who thought sex films were harmful had a hang-up of their own,’ another guest recalled.

In the same way that she conducted up-close-and-personal inspection tours of the jails, Feinstein decided to see for herself what was going on. A few nights later she led a small group to one of the theaters and was ‘appalled’ by what she saw. With characteristic energy, and not much thought to the political consequences, she then opened an all-out attack on the industry.”

That attack was followed by grumbling from then-Chronicle columnist Charles McCabe, who “wrote a series of columns attacking Feinstein’s anti-smut offensive as censorship and Big Motherism, the first headlined ‘Dianne Faces Life.’”

Feinstein has never really shaken that reputation for prudishness since. (Then again, she hasn’t really tried to.)  And we’re likely to hear a lot about that fun-hating side of her in the next couple months. But Feinstein’s true queenliness is found less in her demeanor than in her tremendous popularity in California. Barbara O’Connor, Emeritus Director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and Media at California State University in Sacramento, puts it this way: In a state where voters hate everyone, “A lot tolerate her and many even like her.” In fact, says O’Connor, Feinstein is the most liked politician and the most prolific fundraiser in California.

Feinstein also is a pragmatist, O’Connor says. And her questions about Prop 19 are more realist than moralist.

“She’s asking, ‘Will this make the situation better and is it enforceable?” O’Connor says. “Or is this more big government and more regulation that won’t work?”

O’Connor thinks that voters, particularly independent voters, are likely to have the same questions. This year, voters’ already-significant skepticism of their government’s effectiveness is amplified by the state’s inability to pass a budget, not to mention the regulatory problems that already plague medical marijuana. Moreover, O’Connor says, voters are growing increasingly suspicious of ballot initiatives that promise big things (like big tax revenue), without a clear picture of how they’ll deliver.

So will Feinstein’s move to the top of the No on Prop 19 campaign make a difference? O’Connor believes it’s more of an indicator of where this proposition stands in the eyes of the business community, prominent Democrats, and pragmatist voters than it is a momentous shift in the election’s landscape. As for whether the proposition will pass? Polls favor the measure right now, but O’Connor says real interest in the election won’t kick in until after Labor Day, so any predictions now would be premature.