Two Dem Senators Unstable, Media Focused on One.

Feinstein and Fetterman: A Tale of Two Democrats

Crucial Votes, Severe Impairment

Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) and John Fetterman (D, Pa.) have both returned to the Senate after prolonged medical absences. Both have provided crucial votes for the chamber’s narrow Democratic majority. However, both have struggled to carry on basic conversations due to apparently severe mental impairment.

Unequal Coverage

Despite their similar circumstances, the corporate press has covered Feinstein and Fetterman very differently. Feinstein has been a media zero, while Fetterman has gotten the hero treatment.

Replaceability

What explains the gap? Well, it just so happens that only one of them is easily replaceable.

Feinstein’s Return

Feinstein, 89, was wheeled back into the Senate last week following a three-month convalescence from shingles in California. She has faced a barrage of headlines about her senility, her holdup of the Democratic agenda, and growing calls within the party for her to resign.

Fetterman’s Return

Fetterman, 53, resumed his duties in mid-April fresh off two months of in-patient treatment at Walter Reed Hospital for severe clinical depression in the aftermath of a stroke. Unedited footage of him on the job has been hard to watch. But media have nonetheless declared him “ready to work,” and at least one reporter went so far as to clean up his borderline incoherent remarks.

Contrasting Reporting

Here’s a side-by-side look at some of the contrasting reporting on the Democrat duo, broken down by news outlet:

• Slate: The senator seems not to remember being absent from the Capitol.
• The Washington Post: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who at 89 is the oldest member of the Senate, had been absent since February after she was hospitalized with shingles.
• BuzzFeed News: Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, 89, has been away from the Senate since February.
• The Associated Press: Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s monthslong absence from the Senate has become a vexing problem for Democrats who want to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominees to the federal courts.
• CBS News: Will she or won’t she be back? That’s the question swirling around the Capitol as lawmakers ponder 89-year-old Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s potential return this month amid questions about her health.
• CNN: “How’d that work out for Roe v. Wade?” CNN’s @jaketapper presses Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) about Democrats not pushing retirement for former Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, drawing a parallel to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).
• Forbes: Sen. Dianne Feinstein is set to return to the Senate floor on Wednesday after a nearly three-month hiatus due to health issues, her spokesperson said Tuesday, amid growing calls for her resignation from within the party.
• Rolling Stone: Dianne Feinstein’s health struggles — and the problems they pose for representative democracy — go back farther than the public knew.
• Roll Call: Sen. Dianne Feinstein returned to Congress this week after a months-long absence from illness, but it was not fully clear Thursday morning if she would make it to a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
• The Hill: JUST IN: Ocasio-Cortez calls for Feinstein to resign.

Support for Fetterman

Democrats have thrown their support behind Fetterman following his revelation about his depression, calling it “a sign of strength.”

Replaceability Part 2

Feinstein and Fetterman represent states with Democratic governors, who would temporarily appoint another Democrat to replace them if necessary. But only one of their states is safely “blue” and governed by Gavin Newsom (D.).

Newsom has stated that if Feinstein retires, he will nominate a black woman to replace her in the Senate.

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