The past week or two, I've been thinking about two senators in particular — the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein from California and current senator from New Jersey Robert Menendez. She needed to resign and wouldn't. He needs to resign and won't.

Don't get me wrong. Sen. Feinstein, who died on Sept. 29 at age 90, is a hero of mine. She spearheaded a ban on assault weapons — unfortunately now expired — that saved hundreds if not thousands of American lives. As head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, she took on the CIA and revealed the interrogation techniques it used against suspected terrorists were both brutal and ineffective. (Annette Bening even starred as Feinstein in a movie about the episode called "The Report.")

But she wouldn't leave when it was time to go. Questioning Twitter's then-CEO Jack Dorsey in November 2020, she repeated a question with no memory of already having asked it moments before. This past spring, her absence from meetings of the Senate Judiciary Committee due to illness prevented the confirmation of federal judges.

Feinstein said, "I understand that my absence could delay the important work of the Judiciary Committee." Ill and feeble she might be, but she still refused to give up her seat. Why? If she had resigned, her replacement would have been chosen by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a fellow Democrat. Her successor was bound to vote much as she would. Given her physical and mental condition, the chances of Feinstein adding to her illustrious list of accomplishments were nil. She wasn't staying because she could serve her constituents or the country better than a replacement. She was holding on for herself.

Almost seven decades ago, John F. Kennedy, who served eight years as a senator from Massachusetts, noted in his Pulitzer Prize-winning "Profiles in Courage," "The virus of Potomac Fever, which rages everywhere in Washington, breeds nowhere in more virulent form than on the Senate Floor." And what is that fever? Urban Dictionary defines it as, "A disease peculiar to the greater Washington, DC, metropolitan area that presents chiefly as an intense desire in the infected to be associated with the power and prestige of the United States Federal Government." Apparently, Feinstein suffered from an acute case of Potomac Fever which was virulent enough to override a lifetime of service to her constituents and the country. What a shame.

On the other hand, Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey is alive and breathing even if his political career is in mortal danger. He has been indicted for taking bribes to bolster aid to Egypt and to disrupt both state and federal criminal cases. FBI agents executed a search warrant of his home where they found over half a million dollars in currency, some of which bore the fingerprints of the persons who allegedly bribed him. In addition, agents found over $100,000 in gold bars and a Mercedes-Benz which also allegedly represented payoffs.

And yet, Menendez refuses to resign. If there were only the counterpart of the COVID-19 home test for Potomac Fever, I'd bet Menendez's test would be positive. He says that after any trial, "Not only will I be exonerated, but I will still be New Jersey's senior senator."

That's fine for him, but does the prolonged period between indictment and verdict benefit his New Jersey constituents and the people of the United States? How effective a senator can he be with this sword hanging over his head? He doesn't need a seat in the Senate to fight the charges.

Menendez called the indictments the product of an "active smear campaign." This feeds into Republican accusations that the Justice Department has been weaponized against the Biden administration's enemies — especially former President Donald Trump. Republican Sen. Tom Cotton has said Menendez should not be forced from office "by Democratic politicians who now view him as inconvenient to their hold on power." Tell me why Democrats would want to chase Menendez from office if he were innocent. He has voted 100% of the time with President Joe Biden in this congressional session.

It must be tempting, too, for Republicans to want Menendez in office where he would be vulnerable in his 2024 reelection bid. Again, if he did resign, a Democratic governor would appoint his replacement who inevitably would vote much the same as he did. Sorry, Senator, you are not the indispensable man. You are preoccupied with your plight and at the same time. suffering from Potomac Fever. Staying in office is not what's best for your constituents or the country.

In "Profiles in Courage," Kennedy also asks, "Where else, but in the political profession is the individual expected to sacrifice all — including his own career — for the national good?" Yet isn't that what we should expect of those we elect to high office? It may be only a naive dream, but the goal of all hundred senators ought not be reelection but doing what's right for their constituents and country.

In Keith Raffel's checkered past, he has served as the senior counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee, started an award-winning internet software company and written five novels, which you can check out at keithraffel.com. He currently spends the academic year as a resident scholar at Harvard. To find out more about Keith and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators website at creators.com.

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