Three Reasons For A Second Look At Term Limits

Consider the new congressman from Peoria. Aaron Schock moved up from the Peoria school board, to head of the board, to Illinois state representative, to Congressman (and minor Youtube sensation).

He's 27 years old. He started with the school board at the age of 19.

That's a pretty good story, I think. We're in a culture where we move quickly from one thing to the next, sometimes sideways, and sometimes upwards.

And yet, that is not our political culture when it comes to our legislatures. Maybe it should be, to a greater extent, in some cases.

I'm not a staunch advocate of mandatory term limits, mind you. I've lived most of my life in Virginia, and the 1-term limit on the governor is dumb, dumb, dumb. My sister in Michigan always complains about the term limits on their state legislature, which in her view does little but encourage an anti-political amateurism that ironically reinforces the status quo. If I was alive at the time, I would have probably opposed the 22nd Amendment because hey, there might be another big war someday, and it would be nice to not have to break in a new president for it. You never know.

Voluntary term limit pledges are great, though. I think they might make a difference in some districts. Here's why:

1. A temporary commitment to a new congressman is easier to make than a permanent one. In an environment where such a high percentage of incumbents are reelected, people know the deal. They know that if they make a change, they may be stuck with that change for a long time. To say, as a politician, that you're not going to be there forever, may make the switch easier.

2. Resources can be devoted to new opportunities instead of old commitments. If we win back a new majority in Congress, it would be nice if it doesn't atrophy to nothing over 12 years. The only way to do that is to pick new battles with vulnerable Democratic incumbents, and devote time and energy to holding what we have. The grassroots impression was that the Republican majority cared disproportionately about the latter, and they had a point. Not a single Democratic incumbent lost in 2006, after all. No, I'd rather see a more dynamic party that goes after every race, and we can't always do that when every incumbent leans on the head of the RCCC for the resources to get through just one more tough race.

3. It would be nice to have a little more variety in our conservative stars' careers. I'm something of a Washingtonian, so I'm not one to put much stock in the idea of the humble citizen politician doing his work for the commonweal for a brief time and then shaking the dust of D.C. off his feet and returning to the plow. We have a big, complicated government, and if someone knows a thing or two about how it works, then they should stick around. I see the fate of the limited-out politician as the rubber-chicken circuit, some think tank work, a bit of lobbying, a run at another office, or even a run at the same office if your chosen successor doesn't happen to win. There are some talented and decent Congressmen still in office that decided not to keep their 1994-era term-limits pledges. They've proven they can keep winning, which is fine. But what else can they do?

All that being said, if I were U.S. Term Limits, here's what I'd do. For the 2010 midterms I'd be looking for Republican House challengers in semi-long-shot districts facing slightly banged-up incumbents. I'd be having some serious conversations with them about their expectations and goals, and I'd hope for maybe a dozen term-limits pledges. Then I'd see how it works for them, how the pledge resonates with the people they talk to and the votes they get. If it works, then I'd start working on the Senate races while making sure that my winners are grooming decent successors. If it doesn't work, then at least I'd be doing something besides beating up on turncoats.

Republicans have a lot to relearn. Perhaps "nobody is indispensable" would be a good lesson to teach ourselves. But let's teach the Democratic incumbents first.

Photo courtesy of Schock for Congress.