An Axe Grinders' Convention

A drive is now under way to convince Iowans to vote for holding a constitutional convention.

Every 10 years, a convention measure is on the ballot. And this year, a few conservatives are salivating at the idea of popping the hood on the Iowa Constitution and doing some serious tinkering.

For starters, they'd like to yank out the state's independent judiciary and replace it with a weakened, politicized replica more to their ideological liking.

 Who knows where it would end. A convention would throw the document open to any proposed change.

A poll commissioned by The Iowa Republican blog shows 42 percent of Iowans surveyed favor a convention, with the rest split between opposition and indecision. The site is run by Craig Robinson, a GOP activist leading the convention push.

Convention backers talk a lot about “We the People.” But if a convention passes, the next sound you hear won't be construction of a grand democratic edifice. It will be partisan activists grinding axes for battle.

The Legislature would be in charge of deciding how delegates to a convention are elected and when it would be held. This is uncharted territory, since Iowa hasn't held a convention since the one that drafted the constitution in 1857. The state constitution gives no guidance on how it's done. (See the constitutional language below)

Politicians, I suspect, will have all sorts of ideas.

Lawmakers, good partisans every one, likely will scratch and claw for a structure that gives one side or the other an advantage. Whatever agreement they finally reach, you can bet party activists will run the show.

And what if they don't reach an agreement?

The Iowa Constitution says the Legislature “shall” set up a convention, but it's silent on consequences for inaction. In 1920, voters approved a convention, but lawmakers decided it wasn't necessary and didn't call it.

 I guess convention backers could ask those activist judges for help.

Basically, folks, I'm not confident either party can handle this. The GOP has been pulled from its sensible  moorings by its most outraged and outrageous elements. No long-valued institution - birthright citizenship, religious tolerance, independent courts - is off limits in a reckless hunt for short-term political gain.

And while one party won't show restraint, Democrats, divided, dithering and adrift, can't be trusted to stand up and forcefully resist. The party, skittish and scared of its electoral shadow, has lost its voice.

Luckily, amendments approved at a convention must be voted on statewide. But I'm not willing to let either of these parties drive its clown car into a convention. What pops out may be no laughing matter.

Our state constitution isn't broken. Our politics, however, is.

Comments: (319) 398-8452; todd.dorman@gazcomm.com

From the Iowa Constitution:

Constitutional convention. SEC. 3. At the general election to be held in the year one thousand nine hundred and seventy, and in each tenth year thereafter, and also at such times as the general assembly may, by law, provide, the question, "Shall there be a convention to revise the constitution, and propose amendment or amendments to same?" shall be decided by the electors qualified to vote for members of the general assembly; and in case a majority of the electors so qualified, voting at such election, for and against such proposition, shall decide in favor of a convention for such purpose, the general assembly, at its next session, shall provide by law for the election of delegates to such convention, and for submitting the results of said convention to the people, in such manner and at such time as the general assembly shall provide; and if the people shall approve and ratify such amendment or amendments, by a majority of the electors qualified to vote for members of the general assembly, voting thereon, such amendment or amendments shall become a part of the constitution of this state. If two or more amendments shall be submitted at the same time, they shall be submitted in such a manner that electors may vote for or against each such amendment separately.

This language, approved as a 1964 amendment, expanded on the orginal 1857 convention section, which also mandated once-per-decade votes starting in 1870.

Here are the results of constitutional convention votes since 1900:

Year              Yes         No

1900    176,337    176,892

1910     134,983    166,054

1920*     279,652    221,763

1930     140,667    195,356

1940     199,247     352,142

1950    221,189      319,704

1960     469,463     530,915

1970     204,517     214,663

1980      404,249     640,130

1990     179,762      491,179

2000     306,468      622,256

(Sources: Iowa Secretary of State, Iowa Official Register, Cedar Rapids Gazette archives)

*A convention did win the majority support of voters in 1920. But it was never held.

The late, great Statehouse scribe Harrison "Skip" Weber explained the 1920 punt in a story that ran in The Gazette on Sept. 28, 1970:

The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation was concerned that it did not have legal authority to establish farmer cooperatives.

It was feared that co-ops, without capital stock and not operated for profit, would be held illegal under Iowa's constitution on the grounds they were operating in restraint of trade.

But it was determined during the 1921 legislative session that farmer co-ops could be set up without violating the provisions of the constitution, so the legislature passed a law which took care of the problem.

Consequently there was no big demand for a constitutional convention and the issue withered on the political vine and a convention was not held, nor has one been held since.

The last time there was a serious campaign calling for a convention was in 1980, when Iowans for Tax Relief founder David Stanley led the charge for constitutional limits on government taxing power. The effort had the backing of the Iowa Farm Bureau, among other groups, but failed.

Gov. Robert Ray was opposed the idea, and so were most Iowans, even though early polls showed support for Stanley's propoals.

Coverage at the time said opponents of the 1980 convention raised serious questions about how it would be structured and conducted. (I can remember seeing "Vote No No on Con Con" bumper stickers as a kid) In the end, Iowans with too many unanswered questions played it safe.