By Paul Jacob

Columnist Jeff Jacoby says if Iraq is lucky, it will get democracy before we do. That may be rhetorical exaggeration . . . but not by much.

According to Jacoby, "Thanks to modern gerrymandering; most congressional districts have been turned into Democratic or Republican monopolies -- Constituencies meticulously mapped to lock in one-party supermajorities. . . ."

This fact tends to be obscured by the focus on the presidential election, where the stakes are highest and huge resources are funneled to both sides. "The race for president may be a nail-biter," says Jacoby, "but the outcome of all but a handful of congressional races is a foregone conclusion: The incumbent will be re-elected."

In 2002, only eight representatives running for re- election in the U.S. House failed to regain their seats. And a fifth of House incumbents didn't even have any major-party opposition. The game-rigging is not minor or marginal, either: the average winner got more than 70 percent of the vote.

Here's where term limits come in. Limits would not solve the problem in a flash. You still have those gerrymandered political districts. But primaries would become more competitive very quickly. And with more regular turnover of U.S. House seats as well as statehouse seats, you'd increase the chances of electoral reform that is geared toward fairness and real democracy, rather than protecting the turf of the incumbent.

Jacoby recommends that districts be mapped by an independent commission, as in Iowa, instead of by politicians. That's a start.

This is Common Sense. I'm Paul Jacob.

Common Sense is published by Americans for Limited Government. Their website can be visited at www.limitedgov.org.