Why would David Schanzer and Jay Sullivan want to do this? (via Right Wing News)
By Tuesday night about 90 million Americans will have cast ballots in an election that’s almost certain to create greater partisan divisions, increase gridlock and render governance of our complex nation even more difficult. Ninety million sounds like a lot, but that means that less than 40 percent of the electorate will bother to vote, even though candidates, advocacy groups and shadowy “super PACs†will have spent more than $1 billion to air more than two million ads to influence the election.
There was a time when midterm elections made sense — at our nation’s founding, the Constitution represented a new form of republican government, and it was important for at least one body of Congress to be closely accountable to the people. But especially at a time when Americans’ confidence in the ability of their government to address pressing concerns is at a record low, two-year House terms no longer make any sense. We should get rid of federal midterm elections entirely.
There are few offices, at any level of government, with two-year terms. Here in Durham, we elect members of the school board and the county sheriff to terms that are double that length. Moreover, Twitter, ubiquitous video cameras, 24-hour cable news and a host of other technologies provide a level of hyper-accountability the framers could not possibly have imagined. In the modern age, we do not need an election every two years to communicate voters’ desires to their elected officials.
But the two-year cycle isn’t just unnecessary; it’s harmful to American politics.
Interesting. I wonder if they felt this way in 2006, when Democrats were on their way to a massive victory?
What this is about goes without saying, but I will anyhow: Dems are passed off that they’re going to lose. They say they love democracy, but, at the end of the day, they only like it when they win. If not, things Must Be Stopped. And they wonder why Progressives are linked with fascism.
As far as weakening the President, we’ll, see, there’s this thing called separation of powers. The president is not a king. Katie Maguire at RWN wrote
Excuse me, we live in a democracy. The exact reasons stated for us NOT to have midterms is why we should. If a president is not doing his job, or advancing agendas the American public isn’t interested in, we should be able to elect officials that can act our behalf to stop that president. This isn’t about a lack of respect, or god forbid the race card, by claiming midterm elections are “whiterâ€- this is about having rights and living in a free nation.
The 2 year cycle allows for consequences to elected officials.
Allahpundit has some deep observations on the subject.
