The most destructive aspect of term limits has been the anticipation of the career politician that he or she will have to run a more expensive campaign when s/he is termed out of their position. Because of this, they must cultivate their current and future contributors above the public good. What term limits really do is magnify the defects of our defective democracy, increasing the need to raise money and therefore the influence of campaign contributions. I have watched this happen as progressives from Santa Barbara graduate to a larger constituency and a more expensive campaign and “move to the middle.”
