Thomas Jefferson left office at the age of 65. He died at the age of 83. Back then politics was not supposed to be a profession, let alone a lifetime sinecure. Dying in public office was not supposed to be the objective. But once politics became a profession, politicians tried to stay in office for their entire lives and so we have a series of scandals involving public offices who are quite old and quite out of it.
One House Democrat who knows Norton’s work from the Oversight Committee told Axios that during efforts to pass D.C. statehood in 2020 and 2021, she “wasn’t talking to many people.”
Last week Norton staffers hedged after she told reporters she planned to run for a 19th term next year.
Norton’s floor time dropped from 44 days between 2019 to 2020 to just 18 days from 2023 to 2024. She’s spoken a handful of times so far this year.
A third House Democrat said their own observation of Norton from working with her on a committee is that she essentially goes through the motions and little else: “She shows up to committee, she reads the speech.”
“All of that is true,” said a fourth House Democrat. “She reads what her staff puts in front of her. She can’t say anything she’s not reading. That’s a staff-driven office now, just like you saw in the Senate with Feinstein,” referencing the late California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
She’s missing stuff,” a senior House Democrat said of Norton’s apparent decline, telling Axios that Democratic leadership’s deliberations about her potential reelection bid are “delicate.”
Dems keep pushing this notion that there was some vast conspiracy to keep Biden’s mental state secret. Except this stuff is routine.
It’s not a conspiracy when it’s out front and it’s commonplace. We’ve had these same stories pop up about a number of House members already. Some were pushed into stepping down, others gave up leadership roles, but stayed on.
D.C. is becoming an old age home because politics has become a lifetime profession. There are fewer swing seats so House members, especially in the black community like Norton, simply never leave.