ZELL MILLER: AMERICA IS "ROTTEN, DECAYING"

That what the far right's favorite Democrat said this week. Isn't it odd that conservatives champion a man who thinks the country's in a state of putrefaction?

Zell Miller, Georgia's maverick Democratic senator, says the nation ought to return to having senators appointed by legislatures rather than elected by voters.

...He said Wednesday that rescinding the 17th Amendment, which declared that senators should be elected, would increase the power of state governments and reduce the influence of Washington special interests.

"The individuals are not so much at fault as the rotten and decaying foundation of what is no longer a republic," Miller said on the Senate floor....

Miller said that balance was destroyed in 1913 with the ratification of the 17th Amendment. He has introduced a resolution, which he acknowledges has no chance of passage, to repeal the 17th Amendment and again let state legislatures pick senators....

Atrios asks, "What the hell is with this latest right wing idea that keeps getting batted around?" I'd say it's because Republicans would gain more seats in the Senate, but control of state legislatures is almost balanced right now -- under this system the GOP might have two more seats than it does now (assuming split legislatures would split their Senate delegations).

My guess is that this is about lowering the cost of buying a U.S. senator. Senate campaigns are expensive. State legislators come a lot cheaper. Buy off a few leaders in a legislature and you own that state's next senator.