This idea has emerged occasionally ever since the Ancient Athens. There are plenty of issues involved. I won't go into the details, but I think citizen assemblies and the like offer a more viable solution (even though also these can be criticized on the same grounds as sortition).
And in general, I am not as cynical as the author; I think there are still plenty of politicians (both from left and right and everywhere in-between) who maintain their integrity and seek to serve their constituencies the best they can.