And how would electing them the first time have changed that? The issue is still with the voters...
I've seen the same thing with our elected judges. The problem is uninformed or disinterested voters. With an appointment system, you'd see at least some basic vetting by a committee, much as is done for federal appointments, to insure that only those competent to serve were chosen. Then the voters would have the opportunity to vote "up or down" every so often.
I've seen a judge elected because he shared a name with a popular radio personality (an election-day poll showed that more than 50% of his voters thought they were voting for the on-air guy!); I saw another, utterly unqualified and with zero trial experience, elected on looks and personality over an experienced and highly-qualified opponent; we all saw one superb Texas Supreme Court Justice defeated because she ticked off two rich and influential power groups with two votes. None of those, or at least the first two, would have happened under an appointment/retention system.
Sorry, my calls are going to cancel yours :-). Guess we both need to be calling all our friends!
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