The key difference between Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Joe Biden is that it’s a lot easier to hide the former from the public eye. Joe Biden’s mental decline is on display daily for us to observe and be embarrassed by. However, much of what we know of Feinstein’s cognitive decline (which has been an open secret for some time) is through media reporting, as her colleagues in Congress have been quietly expressing concern about her health over the past year.
“I have worked with her for a long time and long enough to know what she was like just a few years ago: always in command, always in charge, on top of the details, basically couldn’t resist a conversation where she was driving some bill or some idea. All of that is gone,” an anonymous Democrat member of Congress told the San Francisco Chronicle last April. “She was an intellectual and political force not that long ago, and that’s why my encounter with her was so jarring. Because there was just no trace of that.”
For sure, there must have been many sighs of relief when Feinstein (or at least her office) announced that she would not seek reelection. Still, the rumors of her declining mental health prompted Reps. Katie Porter and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) to launch launched campaigns to replace her in the U.S. Senate before she even announced her retirement.
But not seeking reelection isn’t enough for power-hungry Democrats, as her absence from the Senate has put the breaks on judicial nominations, which has some in the Democratic Party calling for Feinstein to resign now.
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The matter of Dianne Feinstein’s mental well-being extends beyond judicial nominations or her own career. Despite an active whisper campaign aimed at pushing her out, there is no similar effort for Joe Biden, whose cognitive decline poses more significant consequences for both domestic and foreign affairs. Sure, polls show that even Democrats don’t want him to run for reelection because of his age. Nevertheless, the mainstream media downplays Biden’s cognitive decline, and his aides seem willing to continue their efforts to keep him in office, and Democrat voters still support him over other potential alternatives.
If we’re questioning Feinstein’s competency, then we have to have the same discussion about Joe Biden. In fact, those Democrats who are trying to replace Feinstein may have unknowingly put Biden in the hot seat by attacking her mental health.
“Democrats kept mum about Mr. Biden’s predicament in the 2020 election, and even as concern has since grown, the party establishment remains loath to entertain a 2024 primary fight. Apart from what happens to the country under Mr. Biden’s leadership, Democrats might consider the potential for problems for the party, à la today’s Feinstein moment,” observes Kimberley Strassel in the Wall Street Journal. “How electable will Mr. Biden be 19 months from now? Might Democratic voters — already feeding into the president’s low approval ratings — prove unwilling to turn out for the party’s anointed yet faltering nominee? What happens if Mr. Biden announces a run yet by next spring is incapable of following through, leaving the party in disarray?”
Although Joe Biden has expressed a desire to run for re-election, there hasn’t been any official announcement yet. If Democrats succeed in pushing Feinstein to retire, it will raise questions about why Joe Biden hasn’t been forced to stay out of the 2024 election.
