Required Voting

Well-respected political scientist and Congressional scholar Norman Ornstein is of the mind that poor voter turnout in the United States has led to overly partisan primaries and general election candidates who don't represent the more moderated American point of view.  In a July 2012 essay at The Atlantic, he makes the argument that we should be required to vote.

What do you think of Ornstein's concerns?  Is required voting a potential solution to American partisan sniping?  Or is it a pipe-dream?