Wanted: Candidates, No Experience Necessary

By Janice Castro

What if they gave an election and nobody ran? California enacted term limitations in 1990 amid strong sentiment that the longer politicians are in office, the less responsive they are to constituents' concerns. Some people are looking to place the same sort of limits on the U.S. Congress. The California law restricts state assemblymen to three terms and state senators to two terms, and it slashed legislative budgets 38%. This year, in the first election cycle under the new rules, party regulars complain that they are having trouble getting qualified people to stand for election. As one state legislator put it, "Who's going to run for an office with no future and no budget? People with nothing better to do. The only constants in Sacramento are going to be the lobbyists and the staff."

With reporting by Wendy Cole