] He takes that a step further by arguing that such an
] incumbent-protection system, in which neither party risks
] losing what they already have, is the reason compromise
] has been replaced by deadlock in state politics. The
] state legislature seems forever polarized as extremists
] of left and right win safe party seats in Sacramento --
] and in Washington, too. His solution: panels of retired
] judges (and computers) to create new and presumably
] competitive elections.

I generally like Reeves column, especially when he points out things that have real solutions that people are working to deal with (and are getting stiffed).

] He takes that a step further by arguing that such an
] incumbent-protection system, in which neither party risks
] losing what they already have, is the reason compromise
] has been replaced by deadlock in state politics. The
] state legislature seems forever polarized as extremists
] of left and right win safe party seats in Sacramento --
] and in Washington, too. His solution: panels of retired
] judges (and computers) to create new and presumably
] competitive elections.

This is a significant cause of polarization of politics at the federal level as well as at the state level.