Asked recently about how to turn around the U.S. economy, North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue uttered possibly the worst idea we have heard yet.
The Democrat governor declared: “I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover. I really hope that someone can agree with me on that. … You want people who don’t worry about the next election.”
Actually, what the American people don’t want — and surely do not need — is a suspension of constitutionally required congressional elections at intervals of every two years for members of the House of Representatives and every six years for senators.
It is shocking that a sitting governor would suggest otherwise.
The whole purpose of elections is to hold politicians’ feet to the fire so they cannot impose policies without regard to their constituents.
When Perdue later faced criticism for suggesting the suspension of elections, her staff claimed she was joking or engaging in exaggeration to make a point. But nothing in her tone was humorous, and her listeners — Rotary Club members in Cary, N.C. — weren’t laughing.
Whatever economic or other difficulties the United States faces, there should be no suggestion of a suspension of the fundamental constitutional processes and rules that have long preserved our country.