Nation: Making It Harder

After ten terms in the House, Minnesota's Republican Representative Walter Judd was determined to retire. He was unhappy because the state legislature had tacked some heavily Democratic Minneapolis wards onto his previously safe Fifth District. He was even unhappier with the hundreds of constituent-pleasing chores that consume the time of a Congressman, and he wanted to devote full time to talking to youth groups around the U.S. But after he announced last April that he was quitting, Judd got more than 5,000 letters —many from outside his district—urging him to stay on. He...