Is there anyone more desperate for power than wretched Rep. Adam Schiff?

The Burbank, California Democrat most famous for his failed impeach-Trump fiasco, is still trying to get himself into a Senate seat, and going to increasingly elaborate means to get it.

According to Axios:

Rep. Adam Schiff is quietly lobbying Gov. Gavin Newsom and his allies to appoint him California’s next attorney general, according to people familiar with the matter.

Why it matters: ...

• The attorney general's job also would better position Schiff, a high-profile Democrat who led the Russia investigation into then-President Trump, to run for Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat, should the 87-year-old decide not to run for reelection in 2024.
• The AG's job is being vacated by Xavier Becerra, who President Biden has nominated to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services.

 So he seems to be copying the Xavier Becerra and for that matter, Kamala Harris, model. of using the California attorney general's post as a perch to vault to higher office. Both of those disreputable pols seemed to have parlayed it into things bigger. Now Schiff seems to be signaling plans to do the same thing himself.

Which is kind of pathetic. Number one, as the Los Angeles Times notes in a piece written more than two years ago, citing political experts, Schiff's Democrats aren't interested in promoting white guys' rise.

Schiff may be feeling “boxed in” as a white, male politician with limited chances for higher office in an increasingly diverse California, according to Bill Whalen, a fellow at the Hoover Institution think tank.

It's tough to play by your party's own rules of skin color first, though, in his case, he's hardly an example of merit unrewarded. He's the incompetent who tried to ram through impeachment on false and spurious grounds, and flunked in his effort.

Two, it's been reported for years that he really really wants it bad.

According to the Los Angeles Times:

It’s also a horribly kept secret in Washington that Schiff is interested in a higher position. The question is what role that might be, and whether Schiff will risk his safe House seat to try for something bigger.

And he's tried at least three times.

First, he made a lunge for the not-missed former Sen. Babs Boxer's Senate seat -- and missed. 

Second, he made a reach for Feinstein's seat, backing away when she decided to run. According to the Los Angeles Times:

When former California Sen. Barbara Boxer announced that she would not run for reelection after 25 years in Washington, Schiff considered a bid to replace her. But when now-Sen. Kamala Harris entered the race, the entire field of serious challengers, including Schiff —backed down.

When rumors circled last year that Sen. Dianne Feinstein might follow Boxer into retirement, Schiff’s was among the first names floated as a possible successor. He began building his war chest. When Feinstein decided to run for a fifth full term, Schiff backed her immediately. Some party strategists say he may be hoping she gives up the seat early, allowing him to be appointed to fill out the term.

And let't not forget that shortly after the Nov. 3 election, someone in the Democrat camp, still no idea who, was spreading stories about Feinstein's senility, something that had to have been known among Democrats for a long time. Feinstein's still there. so wonder who.

There is one anecdote from Balloon Juice, a far-left blog that follows Democrat politics that might be an indicator:

Just after President Trump’s defense lawyers ended arguments in their Senate trial Tuesday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein suggested she could vote to acquit him, despite serious concerns about his character.

“Nine months left to go, the people should judge. We are a republic, we are based on the will of the people — the people should judge,” Feinstein said Tuesday, after the president’s team finished a three-day presentation in his defense. “That was my view and it still is my view.”

[…]

After those remarks were published, Feinstein issued a statement saying she had been misunderstood.

...and...

Misunderstood! After the discipline of Schiff spending hours laying out his case in the most precise language, she makes a stupid off-the-cuff remark like that and has to walk it back. And it is so stupid, because the fundamental reason for impeaching Trump is that he’s meddling with the next election with the purpose of thwarting the will of the people.

And yeah, then the senility stories started rolling out.

Schiff tried again, a third time, when Sen. Kamala Harris ended up in the vice presidency.

According to Politico, writing in late 2020:

Backers of Rep. Adam Schiff have also been back-channeling their support of the House Intelligence chair [for the Senate], noting his popularity within the party, national media presence, and major profile as a key party surrogate on a wide range of issues.

That one fell through, too.

That makes Schiff a three-time loser on the Senate front, plus two failed impeachments of President Donald Trump. He doesn't win much, does he?

Now he's making effort four, the back door, through the California Attorney General's office. With California's Gov. Gavin Newsom increasingly likely to get thrown out in a recall referendum, it appears that Schiff is on another sinking ship. Which is a fine sight, given that he's a rat, and likely to find himself fleeing.

Image: United States Congress, via Wikimedia Commons // public domain,  enhanced with Graphite by BeCasso.