Senate Democrats have known for some time that there was a problem with their senior colleague, but they have been reluctant to publicly criticize or question someone they consider one of their own.
After all, this person was a legend within the party, someone with an illustrious legacy who had earned the right to stay and who had made it clear that he would not go anywhere, ever — at least not voluntarily.
Moreover, many of the senators themselves weren’t much younger, and pushing aside someone whose age was showing would have provoked uncomfortable introspection. Even when the issues reached a point where they were too obvious to ignore, no party leader in Congress — including Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader — wanted to be the first to launch a public campaign to remove a friend and ally.
The dilemma now facing Democratic senators over what to do about President Biden’s faltering presidential campaign is a familiar one for members of the aging chamber, who have watched many of their colleagues — including Mr. Biden, who served in the Senate for 30 years — retain positions of power as they age.
They recently went through a similar uncomfortable and painful situation with former Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, in the last years of her life.
Her condition was much more obvious than Mr. Biden’s; as it progressed, Ms. Feinstein began using a wheelchair and was, by all accounts, clearly in the later stages of dementia, unable to perform daily tasks independently. Mr. Biden’s precise state of health is unknown, and he appears capable of many elements of his job, though his disastrous debate performance highlighted what those close to him described as more frequent shortcomings that raise questions about his mental acuity, his physical strength and whether he is up to the daunting task of defeating former President Donald J. Trump.
But the dynamics that have so far helped keep Mr. Schumer and his Democratic colleagues from publicly calling on Mr. Biden to withdraw from the presidential race are similar to those surrounding Ms. Feinstein’s case.
It is fueled by the factors that helped shape the country’s older political class, including an unwillingness to question incumbents and accumulated power; the close circle of staffers who are personally and politically invested in protecting their aging bosses; and a sense of loyalty and legacy that often trumps pragmatism.
In this extreme case, though, all that is tempered by fear among Democrats that not replacing Mr. Biden could cost them the White House and both chambers of Congress. Some Democratic staffers in both chambers expect the dam to break on Tuesday, when members of the House and Senate both hold their weekly closed-door caucuses and lawmakers will have a chance to huddle in person and answer questions from reporters.
But they also said they never underestimated members’ tendency to hold back.
For now, many Democratic senators appear to be hoping that members of the more vocal House of Representatives — five of whom have already publicly called on Biden to withdraw — will be the ones to apply the pressure to force the president to withdraw.
“They don’t like to do that; it’s extremely rare,” said Chris Whipple, a White House historian who wrote a book on the Biden presidency, of senators publicly dismissing a colleague or party leader. “Right now, they’re going to Biden saying, ‘We don’t think you can do this,’ and he’s saying, ‘I know I can do this — and more importantly, all these Democrats voted for me.’ He’s got a stronger hand than they do.”
Biden played that hand aggressively on Monday, effectively calling the bluff of congressional Democrats, who had quietly urged him to end his candidacy with a letter saying he was “committed to staying in the race.”
“If any of these guys think I shouldn’t run, run,” Biden said shortly afterward when he called into MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday. “Go ahead, announce yourself. Challenge me at the convention.”
It was reminiscent of Ms. Feinstein’s resistance when questions were raised about whether she should remain in the Senate. Ms. Feinstein refused to discuss leaving office before the end of her term, despite being dogged by serious questions about her fitness to represent her state’s 40 million residents.
“I will continue to work and get results for California,” she said at the time.
And just as Mr. Biden is doing now, Ms. Feinstein challenged her concerned fellow Democrats to publicly attack her and call on her to step aside.
They never did that.
Mr. Schumer publicly stood by her decision to stay on.
Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the former speaker, aggressively rejected calls for Ms. Feinstein to resign as sexist, arguing that her legacy as a trailblazing woman in politics had earned her the right to remain in office as long as voters continued to support her there.
When Ms. Feinstein’s extended absence from the Senate last year affected the business of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois and chairman of the panel, went on television to deliver a hardly stern message to his ailing colleague. Mr. Durbin said he hoped she would “make a decision soon about whether to come back.”
Some Democratic senators have begun openly suggesting that Biden should at least consider resigning.
On Monday, Sen. Jon Tester, a vulnerable Democrat from Montana who is seeking re-election, said Biden “has to prove to the American people — including me — that he is up to the task for another four years.”
Senators Christopher S. Murphy of Connecticut and Michael Bennet of Colorado sounded similar notes over the weekend, as did Senator Angus King of Maine, an independent who runs in the Democratic caucus.
Vermont Sen. Peter Welch has warned of a “fierce undercurrent” for Democratic candidates for the House of Representatives and Senate if the party’s presidential nominee loses badly in November.
For months, Democrats have been letting voters know that the future of democracy is on the ballot in November.
Yet in the 11 days since Mr. Biden’s disastrous debate performance, Senate Democrats appear to be consulting the same playbook they used with Ms. Feinstein last year. They have remained largely silent, even as they privately worry that the president’s weak candidacy could cost them not just the White House but also control of the Senate and their chance to regain control of a House that has been dysfunctional under Republican control.
Mr. Whipple said the only thing that could change Mr. Biden’s defiant stance would be if top Democrats in Congress, along with his closest political confidants in both chambers, staged an intervention. If “a private delegation of Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, but probably Jim Clyburn and Chris Coons, could somehow magically come together,” Mr. Whipple said, “maybe he would listen.”
There was no talk of a proposal on Monday. Instead, more Democrats publicly declared their loyalty to a president who has made it clear he will not be pushed aside.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, Democrat of Nevada, issued a statement Monday saying the president “has always stood with Nevadans, whether it’s picking up lines, protecting our personal freedoms, or lowering costs — now is the time for us to stand with him.”
