Wild pitch: George Will strikes out against term limits.

• Author: Clift, Eleanor

No one brings more zeal to a cause than a recent convert. George Will, once a foe of term limits, is now firmly on board the bandwagon. In his new book*, Will conjures up so many arguments for curbing congressional terms, the reader wonders how he justifies ever having been on the other side. A former professor of political philosophy, Will presents his case for term limits with the same scholarly patina that coats his journalism. There are the predictable pages detailing the Framers' original intent and the true meaning of republicanism. But that's the fancy window dressing.

The author of Men at Work, a best-selling book on baseball, Will seems to have been born again at the ballpark. As a board member of the Baltimore Orioles, he oversaw a "throw the bums out" campaign that made the 1989 Orioles major league basebali's youngest team--and the one with the smallest payroll. Yet they came within a few pitches of winning the American League East. Their predecessors, the 1988 Orioles, lost their first 21 games, a record, and went on to lose a total of 107 for the season. "They were somewhat like today's Congress--expensive and incompetent," Will recalls, and "the Orioles' management had a thought: Hey, we can lose 107 games with inexpensive rookies."

Applying the same principle to Congress could produce a winning season. But it could just as easily encourage the election of "Bob Roberts" clones-- millionaire fascist yuppies who can afford a sabbatical in Washington. Will does not match his enthusiasm for term limits with a rigorous examination of opposing arguments or with a comparison of alternative remedies (like campaign finance reform). Instead of intellectual fiber, there is loftier-than-thou prose.

Will paints an unrelievedly negative portrait of public service. The opening chapters are a reprise of recent congressional scandals, an outpouring from the Nexis database. Election to Congress is "tantamount to being dispatched to Washington on a looting raid for the enrichment of your state or district, and no other ethic need inhibit the feeding frenzy," Will writes. He blames the "dangerous careerism" of today's lawmakers for Congress' collective failure of nerve. Will captures the dynamic of Capitol Hill protectionism. And he concludes that the cure for Congress' "hyper-responsiveness" to a selfish and demanding electorate is term limits. But it is a big leap to argue that a revolving door of rookie legislators would cause Congress to...