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I was considering the process for electing the Chief Justice, but that could merely be left up to the court members themselves to do (as it is in many states). Selecting a member to serve in that position every 4 years (it could also be the seniormost member of the ideological majority on the court as well).

Still, I doubt we’d ever go to an elective SCOTUS. I think the biggest impediment is the problems involving fundraising (which could potentially put members in a conflict of interest situation) and you’d also have a situation where decisions would be more a function of politics (by party) than of Constitutionality. No perfect solution here, unfortunately.

I don't think any scenario would have the voters decide who would be the Chief Justice, anymore than the voters currently decide which member of Congress should be speaker of the House. That's left up to Washington. I would keep the current system in place where the President chooses the C.J. It wouldn't neccessarily change every four years. Rehnquist served under Republican presidents for 12 years, and would have likely been re-elected and retained. Also, you might have a Alan Greenspan type situation where a popular incumbant C.J. is retained by the opposition party.

With our elected SC in Illinois, the position of CJ does rotate and is selected by the justices themselves, but I prefer a C.J. who is a definitative "leader" on the court and not just a spokesman among equals. I wish we could keep Bob Thomas on as C.J. of the Illinois Supreme Court for years because it's nice to have ONE branch of government here that's not run by commie Chicago Democrats (even though they have a nominal 4-3 majority on the court)

I think you're right that realistically, they will never push for an elected USSC and the best we can hope for is term limits. I still think someone in Congress should introduce a constiutional amendment for an elected SC just to press the idea and get the electorate talking though.

It would be interesting to see how many states have an elected SC, and how many have an appointed SC. I bet those of us with an elected SC are happier with our judges. :-)