When there is a short in the car-starter, the resistance of the winding decreases so the starter consumes more current and the starter cranks slowly, while there is a risk of eventually burning the windings.
When the brushes are worn or there are bad connections along the starter line, the resistance along the line will increase and the starter will also crank slowly. Does the starter consume more current, or or the starter just get a lower voltage (which subtracted by the voltage drops along the bad connections/worn brushes etc.) and createsa lower current that cranks the starter slowly but with no risk of burning the windings (since the current doesn't increase?)
What is correct? What exactly happens in that case?