David’s post about George Will’s proposed constitutional amendment to bar senators from running for president makes some good points, and I share his low expectations for politicians’ behavior. Yet, I support Will’s idea nonetheless.
I agree with David on term limits. I don’t support them, either. But I don’t see the parallel between term limits and barring senators from running for president the same way David does.
Barring senators from running for president is different because it’s between the branches of government, not within one. Separation of powers is one of those basic principles that our constitution is designed to uphold. Separation of powers is not implicated in conversations about term limits, but it is for Will’s proposal.
We have reason to believe Will’s idea could strengthen separation of powers, which is desperately needed. Will writes, correctly in my estimation, that separation of powers has been “largely vitiated by party loyalties: Congressional members of the president’s party behave as his subservient teammates; members of the opposing party act as reflexive opposers.” Thus, the Senate “degenerates into an arena of gestures, hence an incubator of would-be presidents.” The Senate is not supposed to be an incubator of would-be presidents, so amending the Constitution to uniformly forbid such development wouldn’t be untoward.
Part of the purpose of the Senate is denying voters what they want. The “sudden and violent passions” that Federalist No. 62 says the Senate was designed to mitigate are often very popular. The Senate was not supposed to be directly elected at all under the Founders’ vision. It wasn’t until the early 1900s that the 17th Amendment turned the Senate, more or less, into a glorified House, with fewer members and uneven districts. The House is supposed to be the more rambunctious chamber and is the proper place for grandstanding, political ladder climbing, and giving the voters what they want. (That’s one of the reasons that, while I personally detest the kooks in the House GOP conference, and I wish to see them defeated in primaries, their nuttery does not overly alarm me about the health of the polity. Kooks in the House are not new, and our constitution can handle them.)
The Senate is supposed to be calmer, representing the interests of the states. It has six-year terms, not two-year terms, because it is not supposed to be as representative of what the people want. Accordingly, it seems perfectly in line with the constitutional order to proscribe senators from running for president, even if doing so would limit voters’ choices.