Is life tenure too long?

Stuart Taylor of National Journal makes a compelling argument for limiting the length of time on the bench for federal judges. However, I disagree with one of his points.

Uglier confirmation battles. Slower turnover has raised the stakes on each new appointment so high as to make confirmation battles even more intense than they would otherwise be. Conservatives hope, and liberals fear, that President Bush may lock in a young, conservative majority that could revolutionize constitutional law for 20 to 40 years. Small wonder that confirmation proceedings have acquired the ugliest, most demagogic trappings of presidential campaigns.

I don't believe the ugliness would be alleviated just by having term limits. The reason the left goes so overboard in demagoging judicial nominees is that liberal judges can enact social change that could never get approved through the legislative process. A case in point is the Massachusetts Supreme Court ordering their state legislature to enact gay marriage legislation.