time to remove the rule forever - will we need it for ourselves in the future? Possibly, but if the Republicans do their job, they can stay in a long time as the other side is ready or a new designation - the Socialist Democratic Party.
What does anybody "need" it for these days? A hundred years ago, judges came from the immediate area, were educated close to their hometowns, and practiced law there too. There was certainly no widespread practice of households moving from state to state or coast to coast every couple of years as there is today. A local Senator would have had a good feel for the prospective judge then. That assumption that only locals are going to be the pool of judges is long gone.