Dianne Feinstein, the oldest sitting US senator at age 84, announced on October 9th that she is running for reelection next year. Many on the left are unhappy about the fact that Feinstein hopes to tack on yet another term to her already lengthy senate tenure.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein is running for reelection next year https://t.co/LFvt5B0imN pic.twitter.com/opoYJZXAQM

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) October 9, 2017

CNN Politics just states the fact of her reelection bid in its above Twitter post, but the rest of that headline (on CNN’s site) actually reads: “Dianne Feinstein running for reelection next year in face of liberal angst.”

That’s right, “in the face of liberal angst.” The fact that Dianne Feinstein, a tried-and-true warrior for the traditional leftist agenda, is planning on sticking around in DC causes liberal angst.

Said angst is quite palpable on Reddit right now:

“I would prefer another Harris over Feinstein, but that’s how atrocious Feinstein’s record is. Retire Feinstein you turd”

“I used to vote for her because she was a good representative, but because of her stances on computer security, the NSA, foreign conflicts and corporate interests, I’d now rather vote in an orangutan.”

“Hopefully someone can beat that old authoritarian hag”

“Universe please help us get rid of this petrified lady, who was a progressive in the 60s, never changed and thinks she is still progressive.”

“She’s 85. Get rid of these mummies and pass the torch to the next generation”

“She’s the crypt keeper, I’m not concerned about her politics as much as I’m concerned that she’ll stay vertical for eight more years”

So why are leftists so unhappy about Feinstein running again?

Granted, Feinstein has caught heat from liberals in recent months and years over things she’s done or said that didn’t exactly help the liberal agenda. She called for investigation into Loretta Lynch’s attempted downplaying of the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails. She told constituents at a town hall in April that she wasn’t ready to support a “total takeover of healthcare by the government.” She said that Trump actually has the potential to be a “good president” (the horror!). And just recently on Face the Nation she said that there was no law that could have stopped the Las Vegas gunman from conducting his attack:

Liberals now, more than ever, want liberal leaders who’ll reliably and blindly rage against Republicans (namely Trump) and adhere unquestioningly to talking points of the broader liberal agenda (ie. “strong gun laws are the only answer” and “we must protect the great feminist saint, Hillary Clinton, who is incapable of doing egregious things”). Additionally, modern day liberals want their leaders to provide free stuff for US citizens (and non-citizens!) like never before- healthcare, birth control, abortion, tuition, basic income, wealth redistribution, you name it.

As Carla Marinucci at Politico says, “The state Democratic Party, until recently, has been caught in the throes of a bitter dispute over the chairmanship, pitting party veterans against the activist “Berniecrat” wing.”

The difficult reality is that many Democrats, especially younger Democrats, have swung very far left in the past few years. Murmurs of interest in basic income, support for masked vigilantes who use violence to stifle free speech, an excess of rhetoric rooted in identity politics, and abhorrent super-duper-pro-choice movements like the #shoutyourabortion campaign all evidence that left-ward swing. And older, establishment Democrats apparently just aren’t cutting it anymore. Unless they’re Bernie, of course.

Particularly, in Feinstein’s case, she is just too moderate for increasingly liberal Californians’ taste. According to Sophia Tesfaye over at Salon, “Half of likely California voters said Feinstein should not seek a sixth term, according to a poll released late last month. That likely reflects the way the state has changed during her years in politics; a centrist, hawkish Democrat is no longer a perfect fit for California, a deep blue state.”

On October 10th, Ryan Struyk at CNN wrote that old age in democratic leadership in DC “lead[s] to some restlessness among the lower ranks who have been patiently awaiting their turn at the top.” Younger liberals and liberal politicians are eyeing positions of leadership in DC but can’t get in because of senior politicians like Feinstein, who have been in their posts for ages.

Younger Democrats are eager to take over and reach for things they believe establishment Democrats are unwilling or unable to reach for.

This is where we are now… and conservatives are in for quite a wild ride in terms of right vs. left political struggles if the new and upcoming generation of Democratic leadership thinks people like Dianne Feinstein are too conservative.