California polls are bad news for Feinstein and Harris

It was striking to read how much Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s approval rating has cratered in a recent UC Berkeley Institute of Government poll co-sponsored with the Los Angeles Times.
The Times reported that her approval rating has plummeted to 30% in this deep blue state. Notably, 49% disapproved of her performance. Her former senatorial colleague, Vice-President Kamala Harris’ ratings also is upside down with just 38% approval.
Veteran poll director Mark DiCamillo told the Times “I was amazed at the disaffection for both of the women.”
The Times reported, “…core Democratic blocs: those who identify as “strongly liberal,” voters under 40 and Latinos and Asian Americans. In all regions of the state — including the major population centers of Los Angeles and the Bay Area, where she is from — a plurality of voters disapprove of her performance.”
Feinstein also ran negative with women, a strong point for her throughout her decades in the Senate. She is finishing her fifth term in 2024
Two-thirds of those polled believe the state is headed in the wrong direction, a number that should awaken any elected Democrat concerned about their future. It won’t affect Speaker Nancy Pelosi in her San Francisco district or likely Eric Swalwell in his Congressional district, but it does not bode well in the few competitive districts in the state.

Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Riley, who is black, offered a different perspective on former Miami Dolphins’ coach Brian Flores discrimination suit against the team and the National Football League. Flores, who is black, was hired by the Pittsburgh Steelers this week.
Riley wrote, “Some people, including former President Jimmy Carter, were insisting that the criticism of (President Barrack) Obama was racially motivated. Asked about it, Mr. Obama demurred, “It’s important to remember that I was actually black before the election.”
As was Flores when he was hired. Riley wrote, “One reason is that teams don’t want to hire someone they can’t fire without being labeled racist.”

Some troubling demographic trends nationally; just 23.1% of homes have a traditional nuclear family with a mom, dad and kids, the lowest number since 1959. Two key factors are the pandemic slowing household formation and the continued decline in the birth rate. Women now marry at 28 years of age compared to 20 in the 1950s-60s. For men it’s now 30. Birth rate dropped to 55.4 per 1,000 in 2021 down from 58.4 in 2019.
The percentage of people living with a spouse was 50% versus 87% in 1960. The decline in the traditional family, the building block of healthy societies, is alarming.