Do Iowa Democrats Need A Political Convention?

I was selected as a delegate to the Iowa Democratic Party state convention which convenes at 10 a.m. today. There weren’t enough volunteer delegates nominated at the county convention, so I threw my hat in the ring knowing I might not attend. By the time readers see this, I will have decided. I don’t believe a political convention is needed to fairly and effectively organize a political party. Our current habits go way back to before the state’s founding.

During the early 1830s, Iowa didn’t have much of a government. Decisions of consequence were made by businessmen such as George Davenport, Antoine LeClaire, and others. A concern for having clear title to sell lots in the fledgling city of Davenport was real, but not always a main concern for speculators. There was also the sticky issue that the Sac and Fox indigenous tribes believed they had not ceded land for early settlers. The resulting 1832 Black Hawk War settled the matter, as far as that goes, in Eastern Iowa and Southwestern Minnesota. When Davenport, LeClaire and others decided to invest in land speculation, as they did when in 1835 some of the initial platting of city blocks occurred in Davenport, there was little government to restrain them.

On July 9, 1840, in what was then called Bloomington (now Muscatine), Democrats held the first territorial convention in Iowa. Delegates from 16 counties adopted a “non-interference with slavery” platform. The convention elected Augustus C. Dodge as delegate to the national congress and approved a brief platform with multiple resolutions for Dodge to take with him to Washington. Read more about early Iowa political conventions in David C. Mott’s Annals of Iowa article titled “Iowa Political Conventions and Platforms.”

The Democratic Party’s first convention after Iowa achieved statehood on Dec. 28, 1846 was held April 24, 1884 in Burlington. Its purpose was to elect delegates to the national convention of 1884. Resolutions adopted at the convention include granting 160 acres to former Union soldiers in perpetuity, reducing taxes and tariffs, and eliminating laws that infringed on the freedom of Iowans. Delegates approved a state central committee of 13 members. In short, these are the sorts of things Democrats do at current state conventions. If all this sounds familiar, it’s because a lot hasn’t changed.

The most significant change that impacts party politics has been decentralization of information through the internet. We no longer need a group of “special” state delegates to represent our interests. What we do need is a way to be more inclusive in our politics, a way that enables us to participate directly if we so choose.

The Iowa precinct caucuses that chose presidential delegates to the state and national convention was an organizing method that engaged people in Democratic politics. More people attended caucus during presidential years, while in the background the same small group of people ran the party. This year, as part of my convention registration, I had to declare I was a Biden delegate. The meaning of that is much less than if I had joined my colleagues at the Biden table during the 2020 precinct caucuses.

With the demise of presidential preference caucuses, the Iowa Democratic Party must change how we operate. Party Chair Rita Hart is well aware of this and has stated as much in public. I am not hopeful the state party as represented by today’s delegates realizes this as well as Hart does. It seems to me, from emails I received in the run up to the convention, there are too many insiders protecting turf through seldom read resolutions and initiatives. Iowa Democrats, and I’m not talking about the small cadre of leadership, must stop tinkering around the edges of having a party, and devote more energy into electing Democrats where we can and across the board. If the state party doesn’t help us do that in tangible ways, we should ditch it.

I don’t believe the national party will let us do away with a state convention. That said, I’m not sure of the value of meaningless rituals like participating in the convention. Presidential preference used to hold our interest. It is likely a good thing that went away so we can focus more on local races. Whether we will is an open question.

Good luck to today’s delegates.