Why Dianne Feinstein is the real victim here

It's time to go.

(California Sen. Dianne Feinstein/REUTERS)

If you spend your life in the public eye, there inevitably comes a time when it’s time to step off the stage.

If you don’t, you run the risk of tarnishing your legacy — of people remembering you not for what you accomplished during the bulk of your years but how you looked and acted at the end.

Which brings me to Californian Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who continues to serve despite the fact that most evidence suggests it may not be the best thing for her.

And to new polling from the Los Angeles Times that shows Feinstein’s personal image has taken a massive hit of late.

This chart, from the poll, tells the story:

Just 29% of Californians have a favorable view of Feinstein now while 52% have an unfavorable one. And, as the Times notes: “Much of her decline in popularity came in the last three months — with favorable views dropping 8 points since voters were last surveyed in February.”

Two thirds say that Feinstein is no longer fit to serve — including, and this is stunning, two thirds of Democrats. Forty two percent believe she should resign while 25% think she should stay in office. (A majority of Democrats — 52% — believe she should resign.)

My strong guess is that if you asked any of Feinstein Democratic colleagues — anonymously of course — whether she should keep going, they would say no.

There have been a series of episodes — even since Feinstein came back to Washington after a several-month absence — that suggest she may not be entirely aware of her surroundings or what is going on.

This one, in particular, is telling. Asked about all the well wishes she had received since coming back to Washington, Feinstein had this exchange with a reporter:

Feinstein: “What have I heard about what?”

Reporter: “About your return.”

Feinstein: “I haven’t been gone. You should ... I haven’t been gone. I’ve been working.”

Reporter: “You’ve been working from home is what you’re saying?”

Feinstein: “No, I’ve been here. I’ve been voting. Please, either know or don’t know.”

Not good.

So, why is Feinstein hanging on — and why are Senate Democrats seemingly on board with it despite all evidence suggesting her health is still not good?

The answer appears to be that Feinstein is the deciding vote on the Judiciary committee. Which means that with her, the federal judges nominated by President Joe Biden can make it to a full floor vote, and without her vote they can’t. (Tie votes in committee, which is what happens if Feinstein isn’t there, result in a judge not being cleared out of committee.)

Seeking to address that issue, Feinstein proposed a temporary replacement for herself on the Judiciary Committee. But, such a move would require 60 votes on the Senate floor. And Republicans balked at the idea of doing Democrats that solid.

The Democratic fear is that even if Feinstein resigned, Republicans would refuse to seat her replacement on the Judiciary Committee — robbing them of their ability to move judges through the pipeline.

None other than Hillary Clinton made that argument earlier this week.

“Here’s the dilemma: the Republicans will not agree to add someone else to the Judiciary Committee if she retires,” said Clinton. “I want you to think about how crummy that is. I don’t know in her heart about whether she really would or wouldn’t, but right now, she can’t. Because if we’re going to get judges confirmed, which is one of the most important continuing obligations that we have, then we cannot afford to have her seat vacant.”

But, it’s not entirely clear that’s true.

Refusing to replace Feinstein temporarily on a committee is a very different thing than refusing to give a newly-appointed senator any committee assignments at all.

“Feinstein’s allies are conflating different things: the GOP refusal to do a temp[orary] swap on one committee (for which there’s no apparent precedent) versus refusing entirely to seat a new senator on committees (which happens regularly and Rs haven’t objected to),” tweeted NBC News’ Sahil Kapur.

Which, yes!

In fact, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, told CNN he would support giving an appointed member committee assignments if Feinstein did resign.

“If she does resign, I would be in the camp of following the precedent of the Senate, replacing the person, consistent with what we have done in the past,” Graham said.

Now, the pushback will be that Senate Republicans have shown in the past they are willing to break precedent — so what’s to stop them from stepping in after Feinstein’s replacement has been selected to block him or her from being appointed to the Judiciary Committee?

It’s impossible to argue with a hypothetical so I am never going to convince you — if that’s your belief — that it’s wrong. The only thing I will say is that if Republicans were to do that, it would set a precedent that no appointed senator would be allowed to be appointed to any committees by his or her party, which would, to me, look a lot like cutting of their nose to spite their face.

The other theory floating around as to why Feinstein is being encouraged to hang on by many of her colleagues — especially in California — is how a resignation would alter the trajectory of the ongoing race to replace her.

Rep. Adam Schiff is the clear favorite of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and much of the party establishment in the state. But, Gov. Gavin Newsom has pledged to appoint a black woman if there is a Senate vacancy. Which would likely be Rep. Barbara Lee, who is also running to replace Feinstein. And Lee running as the incumbent in 2024 would be a very different race for her — and Schiff.

What gets lost in all of these machinations is Feinstein. She is struggling to do even the most basic duties of the job. She is clearly not fully recovered from her battle with shingles — and the various complications that arose from it.

The best thing for her would be to resign so she can focus on her health. That she feels as though she can’t is not only sad but is also doing significant damage to a once-mighty legacy.