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excellent speculation, miltie... although i'm not sure if being lt. gov. actually gives you a leg up on being THE gov... UNLESS, arnold finds a way to absent himself enough that campbell actually appears to be "running things"...

i mean, arnold DOES have to appoint SOMEONE...

Led by Senators Chris Dodd and Mitch McConnell, Washington lawmakers today set forth a bipartisan plan to establish term limits for all 524 elected lawmakers in Washington D.C.

President Obama and Republican Party Leader Rush Limbaugh issued duelling statements.

Obama: "If two terms is good enough for a President of the United States, it should be good enough for United States Senators, provided, of course, that the two terms are guaranteed in each case".

Limbaugh: "This is just another example of so-called Republicans carrying water for their Democratic masters. McConnell long ago ceased to have a meaningful voice in the Republican Party. With this pantywaist attempt at perpetuating Democratic control of the House and Senate forever, McConnell has entirely forfeited any conservative credentials he may once have had. I would only support such a change in the Constitution if it restricted the term of the Kenyan President to one quarter of what it is now with no second term allowable. Now, THAT'S Democracy."

The plan, to take the form of both an amendment to the Constitution and a House-Senate bill which would logically be replicated in all 51 states before becoming law, would specify a maximum of two six year terms for Senators and five two year terms for House members. Current elected officials would be grandfathered, but only for the length of time of the new limits. Sponsors doubt that change of such magnitude that we can believe in can be put in place by next year's mid term elections, but anticipate the legislation to take effect with the elections of 2012.

As would be expected in a proposal of such magnitude, there were dissenters.

Long time Senator Robert Byrd favors the plan, but with a longer granfathering process:

"Ah have not yet begun to accomplish all that Ah CAN accomplish for my state and for my country", Byrd speechified. "Mah state needs me to bring home the bacon and Ah would only support such a bill if current Senators were allowed to serve an additional four terms, or, half again the time of their prior service, whichever is the lesser".

Byrd, who was first elected to the Senate in 1959 and is the first Senator to serve interrupted for more than a half century, is seen to be a self sacrificing public servant, since in his case, the additional four terms would be a shorter time than that he would be entitled to if he were allowed to serve for half of his prior time in office.

Byrd again: "Ah have discovered the secret of eternal youth and it is most certainly Senate service. There is no telling how much Ah can accomplish given an additional four terms. Ah look forward to serving the people of mah state and this great nation. I will support the bill, assuming that my friendly amendment is adopted bayh the Senate."

Co-sponsor Mitch McConnell answered a question from the press corps by saying, "There is no reason why we have to stay in our Senate seats forever. We should also have the opportunity to earn some REAL money as lobbyists. At present, the only way we can do so is to deliberately lose an election, like Tom Daschle did. I'm not interested in destroying my own reputation just to earn millions of dollars lobbying the very elected officials I formerly served with. This bill will level the playing field."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signalled a willingness to sponsor the legislation in the House of Representatives, but cautioned that, "The Senate should not expect that our bill will be a mirror image of their bill. For one thing, House members have signalled to me that they will only support such a measure if they are allowed to name their own successors for at least the first two terms after they depart. After all, if they are going to take a highly paid position with a K Street lobbying firm, they have to be able to guarantee that they actually CAN influence the House to support bills favored, and in some cases written by their corporate employers."

Long serving House member Charles Rangel stood in opposition to the Speaker. "My district has had only two representatives in the memory of almost all Harlem residents still living without the aid of a ventilator, and as you can see, it has served them well. A more rapid turnover will impede the ability of we representatives in poorer communities to improve the lot of our citizens. The argument that you have to leave office to make millions is a specious one. It is perfectly possible to make millions while IN office, not that I would ever actually avail myself of such an option."

Former House member Randy "Duke" Cunningham, currently his second term as a Correctional Member, seconded Mr. Rangel's emotion, noting that many lawmakers have gotten very wealthy while in office.

Co-Sponsor Chris Dodd, who plans to call this the Thomas Dodd Honesty In Office Bill, after his late father, the former United States Senator who was known for his honesty in office, assumes that an amedment will be offered and unanimously accepted which would reduce to zero the amount of time between which an elected official would leave office and could begin working as a lobbyist.

As he put it, "If we can't remain gainfully employed, what's the point?"

Future Wishful House and Senate member Gavin Newsom, currently the Mayor of San Francisco, asked, "Is there some way we can make this take effect in 2011 instead of 2012? After all, we've had elections in even numbered years for so long that people have gotten tired of them. It's time for a change and I am the candidate of change. I stand for odd year elections with strict term limits and NO grandfathering and I'm going to tweet this immediately."