Less than six months after Democrats defied expectations and expanded their majority in the US Senate after midterm elections, the prolonged absence on health grounds of Dianne Feinstein, the 89-year-old senator from California, has left the party scrambling for votes.
At the same time, Feinstein’s absence from Capitol Hill has raised uncomfortable questions about the old age of many lawmakers in Washington, and exposed fissures in the Democratic party that cut across generational and ideological lines.
“She has had an outstanding career but, as far as I am concerned, it is time for her to step down. It is not fair to her constituents and it is not fair to her colleagues,” said Jim Manley, a veteran political operative who was a longtime aide to Democratic senators Harry Reid and Ted Kennedy.