Time For An Anti-Dynasty Clause?

Conservative activist Grover Norquist recently proposed that an amendment be added to the Constitution to disallow family members from immediately succeeding each other in office:

“It will be ridiculous to have Mr President and Madam President in the White House,” he said. “We’re the United States of America. How can we say to President Mubarak [of Egypt], ‘You can’t hand off the presidency to your son, it’s got to be your wife’ or, ‘Hey Syria and North Korea, you’ve got to knock this stuff off and be like us’.”

Norquist has commissioned lawyers to draw up a constitutional amendment that would ban family members from succeeding one another to elected and appointed office. If passed, it would not apply to the Clintons as a Bush was elected in between them. But Norquist believes that it will alert voters to the perils of dynasty. “Americans don’t like to go back,” he said.

This got me thinking.  Why not adopt a similar provision to the Illinois Constitution, except expand it to include not only the Governor's Office, but seats in the General Assembly as well?  The practice of handing a retiring or deceased state legislators seat to their offspring or spouse has long-irked me.  It has happened several time over the last few years alone.  Just some examples:  Senator Denny Jacobs retired and installed his son Mike.   Senator Vince Demuzio passed away and the local party apparatus appointed his wife.  Representative Frank Mautino was appointed to his seat upon the death of his father.   Representative JoAnn Osmond was appointed upon the death of her husband.  I'm sure there have been others going back further in time for both parties.

I fully support the proposition that, although family dynasties cannot be ended as long as people are allowed to vote their conscious in free and fair elections , they can at least be more difficult to begin.

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