OPINION:
How many more like Sen. Robert Menendez will it take for us to see that the popular election of senators is a bad idea (“Democrats pressuring Sen. Bob Menendez to resign over bribery charges, corruption accusations,” Web, Sept. 24)?
The Constitution originally provided for senators to be appointed by state legislatures. Then, during Woodrow Wilson’s Progressive era, the 17th Amendment was added, calling for senators to be elected by popular vote.
What hath this wrought? Corrupt campaign financing from out of state. Election manipulation by a partisan, far-from-free press. Internal arm-twisting and retribution against politically vulnerable colleagues. In brief, our legislature’s senior chamber has turned from a serious, sober forum into a cavalcade of clowns, exemplified by a mentally impaired puppet who dresses on duty like a slob.
No such things happened, or could happen, back when senators were appointed by their states. The Founders knew that however corrupt a state legislature might be, it had a better idea than voters about who the best public people were. Election was suitable for House members, who represented a state’s citizens. Not so senators, whose purpose was — and should be still — to represent the state’s interests in a government limited by checks and balances.
Prohibition (another bad idea) took us only 10 years to correct. The 17th Amendment (a far worse idea) is still un-repealed after eleven times that long.
JOHN S. MASON JR.
Irvington, Virginia
