Election Reform
Related: About this forumKeefer
(713 posts)NO!
doc03
(36,728 posts)12 years or more of W. No Thanks
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)doc03
(36,728 posts)Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)For Bush to win a third term, you'd have to go back and fix Iraq in 2005. That's really what killed his approval ratings, since Iraq turned into a gigantic clusterfuck shortly after he started his second term. It's a big reason the Dems took control of the House & Senate in the numbers they did in 2006 ... so, I don't think there is any possibility of Bush winning a third term.
IMO, I think Bush would've opted to not run again. Kind of like LBJ in '68.
HeiressofBickworth
(2,682 posts)the Republicans would merely have to cheat again. They did it twice and got away with it so a third time would be a piece of cake.
I think limiting to two terms is a good idea, no matter who the President is.
Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)... think he never would have run again. he would have had to start running in 2007. Their might have been a primary, and he was very unpopular.
eppur_se_muova
(37,460 posts)Sekhmets Daughter
(7,515 posts)Without term limits Bill Clinton would have won in 2000 and 2004...In fact without term limits he might still be president
The Velveteen Ocelot
(120,998 posts)But FDR was the only president ever actually elected to a third term.
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)what do you think?
Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)Generally, the second term amounts to little for any president because we already know he's done no matter what. I have hope Obama will be able to do more in his second term, but it's rare a president gets near the level of his agenda through as he did in his first.
So, giving a President three terms allows for the potential to have a second term defined by policy and not lameduck status, which almost always happens the second after his inauguration.
Yes, I get some people fear the possibility of Bush getting a third term, but that wasn't going to happen. Had Bush run for a third term, which I even doubt he would have, Obama would've kicked his ass worse than he kicked McCain's.
Give a president three potential terms to shape the country.
Pyrzqxgl
(1,356 posts)term limits are undemocratic
MrSlayer
(22,143 posts)A single six or seven year term would be better. Do what you want to do without having to worry about re-election. No wasting time campaigning when you should be governing.
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)ToxMarz
(2,251 posts)It would be an awesome rumor to start over at the Freepers, that Democrats intend to change the law so he can serve a third term. Those whose heads haven't yet exploded, will. Fox will probably do it anyway to keep them riled up.
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts).... GOP support.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)I remember people saying Reagan was going to try. Then the right was afraid Clinton would try. Then the tinfoil people here were SURE SURE POSITIVE SERIES that was what Bush was going to do, after suspending the constitution and putting everyone into FEMA camps.
And so it goes.
creeksneakers2
(7,589 posts)Presidents always leave all the big problems to the next guy. If a president was going to be around for 20 years, he'd be more responsible about what he's creating and leaving.
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)Kolesar
(31,182 posts)More broadly, term limits have ruined Ohio government.
Swede Atlanta
(3,596 posts)I would like to see similar term limits for Congress and the Senate....
I would propose no more than 3 terms for a Congressman or 6 years and no more than 2 terms for a Senator or 12 years.
The Founding Fathers envisioned a system of citizen representatives, not monied career politicians. But term limits will have limited effect if we have unlimited corporate money in elections. We would still need an amendment that would significant change the ways elections are funded and reduce the influence of 3rd party money in elections. I don't see that happening ever, ever, ever.
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)let them get their pension. But as someone her said what about Ted Kennedy. We never would have The great ted with term limits
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Too often, "term limits" are the excuse used by the people who constantly lose since their ideas are out of sync with most of America (see the religious right) as their desperate attempt to shoehorn their person in.
Term limits are legitimate in the case of the POTUS because the chief executive has a tremendous amount of power unique only to that office. It is dangerous to allow anyone to sit in that chair for too long.
But it's a special case. I do not think term limits are appropriate for Congress.
Vincardog
(20,234 posts)lives. Serving in government was a hardship and came at the expense of not managing your own affairs.
They did not envision a professional class of politicians nor did they envision anyone wanting such a profession.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)but this idea of playing the endless game of "what would they have wanted", or "they would have wanted this" is silly. Would they have driven SUVs? Hybrids? Drank Diet coke? Would they have enjoyed violent XBOX games? HBO?
It's meaningless. At the end of the day, they're dead dudes from over 200 years ago. Really more relevant to us today, is to ask ourselves, now, what can we do and what should we do in a constitutional framework.
Personally, I am opposed to congressional term limits; I think that, like many jobs, people often require time and experience to get good- and point blank kicking all Senators and Reps out after one or two terms guarantees a perpetual crop of people 'learning the ropes'. There is something to be said for experience in Washington; love him or hate him (and there are ample reasons for both) Lyndon Baines Johnson was quite possibly the most effective politician of the 20th century; he honed that ability by spending a great deal of time in DC. We have long-time members of congress, like Barney Frank, who still do good work and have established themselves and their positions over time.
We have remedies for bad legislators, i.e. elections. That is how voters can remove people who have outstayed their usefulness in DC.
gopiscrap
(24,171 posts)and at the four year mark vote approve (if approve then continues for the next two years) or dissapprove and if disapprove hold an election 90 days later for a new president and then the six year clock starts ticking again.
orpupilofnature57
(15,472 posts)as far as a Manager.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)a maximum of two four year terms is, IMO, perfect.
eppur_se_muova
(37,460 posts)And that was largely because the country didn't want to change leaders in the middle of a war, which was a good decision.
Voters don't need to be "protected" from their decisions. They have chosen well enough without the 22nd Amendment. The only President who could have been elected to a third term since was Clinton -- and wouldn't that have been BETTER than W? Even if Clinton had lost, he could have run again in 2004 -- how do you think THAT would have turned out? Think how different our recent history would have been without the 22nd Amendment -- maybe no 9/11, certainly no Iraq War, maybe warning signs on Wall Street would have registered in time. No, I don't think Presidential term limits have done us any good at all, and quite a bit of harm.