I recently had a conversation with my father-in-law about term limits. He believes its the solution to our political issues and to be honest, I have no strong opinions about term limits. In graduate school we looked at the issue from a very academic perspective and the evidence was inconclusive (in my opinion of course) so I still wonder if this is a solution to our political issues like some believe.
Ultimately, a lifetime career of being a politician and campaigning every 2 to 4 years can wear at a politicians passions, their ability to represent the electorate, and potentially their personal character. Also, I often think that having the same white dudes in office for 30+ years creates an institution resistant to change and susceptible to corruption.
On the other hand, politics requires a skill set and an understanding of process. Just imagine if all of your co-workers totally changed every year? Lets face it, any job is hard to master in a year or two and the legislator is NOT an easy job. It is not just politicking, but also understanding how to pass policy and more importantly, how to write good policy. Not to mention, there are no politicians without a staff that also needs to learn the system.
Maybe the most disastrous consequence to true term limits is that we would then have people in office that need to be planning their next move when they have to leave their elected office. So now lobbyist and special interest groups not only can still offer up the current corruptions; like elaborate vacations and other perks, but also a job after they are unemployed when their term is over. Now that scares me! I can’t blame any politician for buying into that type of deal because we all have to make decisions to secure our families future.
The reality is that the “lifers” are usually productive and make historic legislation (think Ted Kennedy- love him or hate him, he wrote and co-wrote some historic legislation that reached across the aisle). And if you objectively observe the incoming class of freshmen in 2010 they can’t do shit! They have been dysfunctional. They are not only stonewalling legislation, but they aren’t offering up any alternatives and when they do, it is poorly written and un-passible legislation. Policy is important, it needs to be a lot of words (sorry everyone, it can’t be a one pager to make it easier for you to understand) and it needs to be well written so it can get votes. Its not just politics, its a government process that keeps the government functional. But what do you expect from a group of politicians who ran on an anti-government platform?
The reality seems to be that politics is a career. Its more than something learned by watching Rachel Maddow or Bill O’Riely on the evening news, its not even easily learned in a class you would take in high school or college.
So maybe it isn’t term limits that is an issue…it really seems like an electorate issue. In my own state of Kentucky, we were excited to get rid of Jim Bunning finally and then replaced him with Rand Paul…WTF? Seriously? Mitch McConnell hasn’t been in politics for 20+ years because he is royal or grandfathered in; he is there because WE (Kentuckians) reelect him year after year.
Lets face it, we don’t need term limits because we already HAVE term limits- they vary by office and state, but most legislators only serve every 2 years and most governors, like the President, serves for 4 years until the US people must allow them back into office. It is the American voters that chose to extend their time in office, even when presented with alternatives.
