Term Limits of Endearment
First District Congressman Gil Gutknecht seems like a decent guy. He represents the district way down around Rochester, which might as well be Iceland for people from the Twin Cities, so I don't really know that much about him. My memory and superficial review of his record shows him to be reliably conservative. And I am predisposed to liking Gutknecht, if for no other reason, his singular contribution to the number 218, the total needed for a controlling majority in the House (and with his help, the GOP currently holds 232 seats).
However, that doesn't prevent me from objecting to ol' Gil's recent antics. Apparently he was mulling over a run for the open Senate seat in 2006, but, according to reports, he just didn't have it in him:
Gutknecht, a Republican, said he didn't have the "fire in the belly" to run for the Senate seat being vacated by the incumbent, Democrat Mark Dayton. He also said he had too much to do in the House to pull himself away from those tasks for a Senate campaign.
A sound decision by Gutknecht. A man must know his limitations and lack of "fire in the belly" (otherwise known as "complete lack of desire") is definitely a limitation for pursuing any job. Plus I have a hard time supporting any politician prone to using self-aggrandizing comments in order to explain his personal set backs. Yes, he's one of those politicians who are "too busy" to seek increased power, wealth, and glory.
On their own, neither of these are reasons enough to condemn Gil Gutknecht. However, his retreat to his fallback position just might be:
Although Gutknecht had said he would limit himself to six two-year terms, he now hopes the people of the 1st District will send him back for a seventh term. He said while he still believes in term limits, his seniority in the House brings power to Minnesotans.
To paraphrase Mitch Berg from our NARN post production meeting last Saturday - Gutknecht believes in term limits so much, he vows to accrue decades of seniority in Congress in order ramrod them though. (After a line like that, I was moved to order Mitch another round of jalepeno poppers.)
Gutknecht's original self-imposed 6 term limit was laughable anyway. His commitment to a "limited" term in office kicks in after he's served for 12 years!? I guess that's one definition of a limit. And maybe Sen. Robert Byrd is just about to magnanimously limit himself to only 48 years when him term is up in 2006.
Why do I favor term limits? For many reasons, pimary among them restoring the House of Representatives to its originally designed position as the elected body most directly reflecting the will of the people. Constitutionally mandated two-year, directly-elected terms were supposed to ensure that (as opposed to the President's and Senate's 4- and 6-year terms, filtered through electors and, originally, state legislatures). However, the age of gerrymandering (among other factors) has resulted in a situation where 95%+ of House incumbents win their races every election. The average tenure of Congressmen is 9 years.
Entrenched power, something which inspires instinctive revulsion in any American. This phenomenon of careerism is most articulately, and somewhat paradoxically, described by George Will:
The strongest argument for limits is not the common one about making Congress "closer to the people" so it can be more "responsive." Congress is too close; it is too responsive to organized, clamorous appetites. It is because careerism is the dominant motive of most legislators. By removing that motive, term limits would make Congress less subservient to public opinion and more deliberative.
Careerism changes the candidate, from a citizen leglislator, an organic product of the context of his Congressional District, into this creature of Washington, more concerned with saving his job and yielding to the "organized, clamarous appetites" making demands on his judgment. That is the danger of safe seats and non-competitive elections.
Logic that candidate Gil Gutknecht might have agreed with in 1994, when he was running for Congress for the first time. You may recall, his victory was a small wave in the national tide which gave power to the GOP in the House for the first time since 1954 (when Robert Byrd was a 37-year-old young pup, just beginning his second term in the US House - it's true.)
That astonishing power shift was driven by Newt Gingrich and the brilliant Contract with America. A document, enthusiastically signed by Gutknecht, which had as its 10th and final proposal the Citizen Legislature Act. Its stated goal, to replace career politicians with citizen legislators via a Constitutional amendment limiting House tenure to as little as three terms.
A great idea, something I'd imagine a lot of people living in the First District would support. Including Gil Gutknecht. That is, before he left town 12 years ago. The problem, succinctly stated by the man himself on Saturday:
"I love this job," Gutknecht said.
A little too much, I surmise.
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