DISPATCHES FROM THE ICE FLOE: “She’s missing stuff:” Eleanor Holmes Norton’s colleagues see signs of decline.

What we’re hearing: “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.”

• 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.

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Between the lines: Many House Democrats declined to weigh in on whether Norton should run — largely because they haven’t spoken with her.

• “I don’t know that I’m ready to bury [her] yet,” said D.C.-area Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.). “We just haven’t had conversations about it one way or the other — I haven’t anyway.”
• Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told Axios: “I haven’t seen her in a little bit, so I haven’t had a chance to hear what she has to say.”

Zoom out: The firestorm over Norton’s future comes as Democrats are grappling with aging leadership.

Flashback: The Democratic Party’s Ice Floe Politics. “The next time a Democratic politician makes an anonymous observation about the age or vigor of a colleague with whom they disagree, be skeptical. The remarks are made to reporters as if in sorrow, but the message is about as subtle as a shiv in the prison yard.”