Since the cry for term limits is once again heard in the land…

…once again I need to break in with a dab of reality:

We already have term limits. They are called elections.

In my observation, people who say they want term limits are not trying to limit their own representatives. They want to limit my representative because, say, they don’t like him, want someone new, younger, don’t appreciate his management capabilities or style of talking. Whatever.

I take this personally: you are trying to erase my vote even before I make it. You are trying to deny me my choice of representatives.

Well, he’s not your candidate; he’s mine. If I like him, I want to vote for him — specifically because he’s been in office for a while, understands Congress and the way it works, knows how to work in it, i.e., is experienced. I like professional experience. I don’t want you denying me the right to choose my experienced professional.

If you don’t like your own representative, you have a choice: don’t vote for him/her, or support another candidate in the primary.

There are so many awful attempts in our country to suppress, deny, throw out millions of people’s votes. If you’re concerned with who is elected to Congress, work to ensure that every citizen can vote in a manner equal to every other citizen.

Unfortunately, this isn’t a promise that everyone you like will be elected. But that’s not the point of elections in a democracy, is it? The point is: each of us must have the right to vote for the candidates each of us wants.

And then — because this is a democracy — each of us will accept the candidates who are elected to the terms for which they were elected. Even if we hate them.

Won’t we?

 

 

 

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