CARACAS, Venezuela - U.S. peace activist Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq, said Saturday she is strongly considering running for office against U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein because the California Democrat will not support calls to immediately bring troops home.

Sheehan, who was visiting Venezuela for the World Social Forum, along with other anti-war and anti-globalization activists, said she has been thinking of challenging Feinstein for some time.

<##IMAGE##>"I think this is so urgent and necessary that this is what I have to do," Sheehan said, adding she will make a final decision on whether to run after talking with her three adult children in California in the coming days.

Sheehan accused Feinstein of being out of touch with Californians on Iraq.

"She voted for the war. She continues to vote for the funding."

"She won"t call for an immediate withdrawal of the troops," said Sheehan, who gained fame when she set up a protest camp near President George W. Bush"s Texas ranch last year.

"I think our senator needs to be held accountable for her support of George Bush and his war policies," she added.

Feinstein"s campaign manager, Kam Kuwata, denied that.

"She doesn"t support George Bush and his war policies," Kuwata said by phone from California.

"She has stated publicly on numerous occasions that she felt she was misled by the administration at the time of the vote."

But with troops committed, Feinstein believes immediate withdrawal is not a responsible option, Kuwata said.

"Senator Feinstein"s position is: "Let"s work toward quickly turning over the defence of Iraq to Iraqis, so that we can bring the troops home as soon as possible.""

Kuwata said Feinstein and Sheehan appear to have a fundamental disagreement over whether troops should be pulled out right now.

"That"s why they have elections and if she decides to file (paperwork to run), so be it," he said.

Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq in 2004, said running in the Democratic primary in June would help make a broader point.

"It would bring attention to all the peace candidates in the country," she said.

Sheehan, 48, earlier criticized the veteran senator for not immediately backing a filibuster of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito.

Feinstein announced Friday she would support that filibuster, the same day Sheehan issued a statement saying she would run against the senator if she didn"t take a harder line. Democrats fear Alito would shift the court rightward on issues including abortion and the death penalty.

Sheehan, who lives in Berkeley, Calif., said she would head to Washington on Sunday for protests against Bush"s state of the union address and then return to California to discuss her idea of running against Feinstein with her son and two daughters.

"I can"t see - if they think it"s going to help peace - that they would be opposed to me doing it," she said.

Sheehan and other peace activists met for two hours Saturday with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is a fierce critic of Bush and the Iraq war. Sheehan said she was impressed by Chavez"s sincerity.

"Our president won"t even take five minutes to meet with me," she said, adding Chavez was "really excited" to hear she was considering running for the Senate.

"He said, why don"t I run for president?...I just laughed."