The Issues, No. 7 - Don't Vote for Incumbents

We've talked about limiting the terms of Congressmen and Senators a couple of times now and in those instances we've said that limiting their terms requires an amendment to the Constitution. There is another way to limit terms that doesn't require an amendment to the Constitution but requires that we, the voters, don't vote for the incumbent. In other words, whenever your current Congressman's or Senator's current term is up and they need to win a new election to remain in office, don't vote for them, vote for their competitor. Their are a number of organizations who promote this idea and you can find them by performing an internet search on "vote for incumbent".

Not voting for incumbents will accomplish pretty much the same goals as limiting terms through a Constitutional amendment but is more risky. A Constitutional amendment would simply not permit a Congressman or Senator to succeed themself in office. The "don't vote for incumbents" idea will only work if enough voters follow through and actually don't vote for the incumbent which leaves the door open for the incumbent to be reelected.

A good compromise might be to let your representatives in Congress as well as your state representatives know that you want a Constitutional amendment to limit the terms of Congressmen and Senators and, in the meantime, whenever you have an opportunity to vote, don't vote for an incumbent.