David Harsanyi of the Federalist isn’t thrilled about Nikki Haley’s earliest ideas in her nascent presidential campaign.
Nikki Haley says the United States is ready to move beyond “the stale ideas and faded names of the past,” and embrace a “new generation” of leadership. The newest Republican presidential contender is reinventing herself as a forward-looking populist. So what big, bright, innovative notions has Haley brought the people? As far as I can tell, two — neither of which has any chance of coming to fruition. …
… Term limits were already around in the Roman republic and Athenian democracy. These days, it’s a cheap way to tap into voter anger at the political class. And, hey, I hate those monsters as much as the next person. But the returns on limiting legislative terms are negligible, at best. It rarely promotes better governance or less incompetence or corruption. Most partisans vote lockstep, whether new or old.
What term limits often end up doing is forcing out the handful of legislators with genuine expertise or institutional knowledge and replacing them with more amateurish ideologues. …
… Anyway, we already have access to term limits. It’s called voting. People claim to detest incumbents, yet they habitually re-elect them. What we really hate is the other person’s incumbents. …
… Haley’s other big idea is to institute mental competency tests for candidates over 75. This isn’t exactly a new thought, either. Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, a doctor, called for senility tests a couple of years ago. Theoretically, it too makes sense. The thought of a mentally brittle Joe Biden running the world’s most powerful military is indeed terrifying. …
… Numerous states have age-based mental competency requirements for drivers’ licenses, so why not politicians? Well, for one thing, the DMV rarely hijacks tests for partisan gain.
