Term Limits

Term limits are great, but have their limits

Members of congress serve for life for a reason. It's hard to unseat an combatant congress member. Congress has an insurance policy called Seniority. If you replace your congress member, your district or state goes to the back of the line for all the federal pork. Congress has a free advertising service called the free press. Every time a member of congress does something official, a member of the press takes pictures and records quotes for the public good. Members of congress are the de-facto nominee of their party. In a district dominated by one party, that's not a guarantee of reelection, but it sure helps. There's also the matter of tradition. If a representative serves long enough, their reelection can become something people do because that's what they've always done.

To overcome the advantages of incumbency, we need term limits.

Term limits will not cure everything. The states and districts you cannot stand will not change. Old curmudgeons will probably be replaced with new curmudgeons. However, that new curmudgeon will still come from a new generation and may breathe a new perspective into an old institution