A Very Interesting Idea

Wow. Just when I finish blasting Senators, Glenn Reynolds comes along with some food for thought. As he notes, there's been serious discussions about repealing the 17th Amendment. But he has an even more revolutionary idea...

My own proposal for reform would be a bit different: Make anyone who serves in the Senate ineligible to run for President. That wouldn't be much of a loss, really -- Senators do very badly in the Presidential election business anyway. But while legislatively selected Senators might have been smart guys, or at least politically wise men, Senators elected in statewide races are likely to be ambitious politicians who see the Senate as a stepping stone. My proposal would steer those people elsewhere, which might improve the Senate.

Can you imagine the people bailing out of the Senate? Of course such a change wouldn't impact sitting Senators, but it would make the Senate a better place over time. Then again, so would term limits. And those should apply to the House as well.