A question of age: Why Sen. Dianne Feinstein's refusal to resign could hurt Biden in 2024

The sight of President Joe Biden taking a hard fall while on stage at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado – the regrettable result of a sandbag left where anyone could have tripped over it – added fuel to fears that Biden, 80, is too old for a second term.

But there is another recurrent imagery that is also damaging Biden’s chances. It concerns his old friend and Senate colleague Dianne Feinstein, whose sad saga could cost Democrats the White House in 2024.

Watching the frail California stalwart who, at 89, recently resumed her Senate duties after a lengthy recuperation from shingles and other medical complications, Americans see what can happen when a powerful elected official stays in office too long and refuses to step down. Yes, Feinstein is three years older than Biden would be at the end of his second term, but their respective ages are close enough to cause legitimate concern – and damaging publicity.

Feinstein’s aides insist she is fully capable of carrying out her Senate duties. Yet, she has appeared confused after her lengthy absence, telling a Los Angeles Times reporter last month, “I haven’t been gone,” adding, “I’ve been here working.”

Biden said he was a 'bridge' to younger political leaders

When he ran in 2020, Biden said, "I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else.” He said younger politicians were “the future of this country.” The clear implication for Biden’s supporters was that he would serve a single term as the nation’s oldest president then step aside.

Now he’s running for reelection, insisting, “It’s time to finish the job.”

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The reason Feinstein constitutes a risk for Biden, especially among independent voters, is that she provides a worrisome peek into what the future might hold for any octogenarian. That’s not to say Biden couldn’t successfully serve until age 86, and it’s not to overlook his many accomplishments. But the president’s supporters tend to defend his decision to seek a second term by citing the wrong metrics.

Typical was the analysis by columnist Scot Lehigh of the Boston Globe, following Biden’s successful resolution of the budget crisis. “Biden’s latest accomplishment obviously won’t keep age from being an issue in the 2024 campaign,” Lehigh wrote. “But intelligent voters should judge Biden by what he’s accomplished, not the GOP’s hyperpartisan nastiness.”

And therein lies the flawed thinking. Though nasty criticism of Biden is unwarranted, so is judging the president’s fitness for reelection by what he has achieved. An 80-year-old seeking to lead the nation until he’s 86 should be evaluated in the same way insurance companies would approach it – with odds and statistics.

In summarizing this, The New York Times reported, “As people enter their 80s, and even their mid-to-late 70s, some standard age-related shifts tend to occur, like muscle loss and a drop in bone strength, that make people more prone to disease and injury.”

The report said people in their 80s find it more difficult to multitask and to learn new things. Such folks also tend to fatigue more easily.

If Biden had to step aside in second term, it could trigger a crisis

Nonetheless, at 100, Henry Kissinger remains an amazing political thinker. At 97, Mel Brooks recently completed a new movie. At 91, John Williams continues to conduct orchestras and score films. And at 83, Rep. Nancy Pelosi seems to be as sharp as ever.

The problem with these and numerous other examples of men and women who are productive later in life is that they don’t hold the fate of the free world in their hands, and they haven’t been elected to four-year terms from which stepping down could trigger a global crisis.

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It doesn’t really matter that Biden seems vigorous at 80. The chances are that in the next six years, he will encounter medical and physical problems. Former President Jimmy Carter, who remained generally fit well into his 90s, pointedly said, “If I were just 80 years old … I don’t believe I could undertake the duties I experienced when I was president.”

Yet, just as most of Feinstein’s Capitol Hill colleagues defend her decision to stay on, leading Democrats pledge support for Biden’s campaign, since sitting presidents are generally afforded that courtesy, and because the specter of returning the White House to Donald Trump is truly terrifying.

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Dianne Feinstein should courageously announce her resignation. Joe Biden should demonstrate, yet again, his love of country by gracefully withdrawing his candidacy and sparing Democrats an ugly campaign filled with video mashups showing slips of tongue and stumbles afoot.

In 2020, Biden might have been the only Democrat who could defeat Trump. In 2024, because of his age, he might be just about the only Democrat who can’t.

Peter Funt’s new book, "Playing POTUS: The Power of America’s ‘Acting Presidents," examines the history of presidential mimicry. 

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is Biden too old? Why Dianne Feinstein may hurt his reelection