Conventional Thinking Won’t Save Connecticut

 July 24, 2008

Deep in the soul of every ideologue, a voice whispers over and over: The people are with me.

How can activists not tell themselves so? With compensation poor or nonexistent, most citizens uninterested in government, and opponents who seem unconquerable, ideologues need something to get them through the night.

A fiery belief that “the people” are being ignored is essential for motivation. But when such zeal fails to recognize political and cultural realities, it can not only hurt your cause, but help the other guys.

That lesson comes to mind when reading about the “Constitution Convention Campaign,” an effort to permit California-style ballot measures in Connecticut. With voters three months away from deciding whether to convene a constitutional convention -- they’re asked every 20 years -- the campaign claims a once-in-a-generation opportunity exists to graft language for initiative and referendum on state government’s foundational document.

This alteration is necessary, according to the campaign’s chairman, because “we have a large portion of people in our state who feel disenfranchised and disconnected.” Statewide plebiscites on issues such as eminent domain and gay marriage, we are told, would circumvent legislators who consistently ignore the public’s desires.

It’s a dubious claim. People tend to get the government they deserve. And in Connecticut, where the entire 187-member legislature faces election every other year, there are frequent chances for voters to change state government.

But “direct democracy” cant isn’t the campaign’s biggest flaw. The most substantial problem with bringing propositions to Connecticut is that doing so requires the aforementioned constitutional convention. Such an event would potentially help the state’s ruling elites consolidate their holdings. Since delegates would be appointed by the legislature, the document produced probably wouldn’t feature initiative and referendum, but the addition of language guaranteeing a “right” to healthcare, socialization of electricity, and a host of new job-killing mandates on employers.

The Constitution Convention Campaign has a plan for this, of course. It will convince the state’s solons to “put together a fair, bi-partisan list of participants.”

An appropriate response might be: “Look -- there’s a unicorn!”

At least for the moment, the Nutmeg State bleeds blue. Not only is state government as liberal as any in the nation, every major institution in Connecticut leans left. And how would “bi-partisan” delegates contribute to a vigorous constitutional debate? Connecticut’s political parties are virtually indistinguishable. In Hartford, the GOP is only slightly less committed to spending, borrowing, and taxing as the supermajority Democrats.

The Nutmeg State’s paltry conservative infrastructure would be no help in a constitutional conflict. Weapons that are common in most states are missing here. Connecticut lacks well-funded policy organizations with experienced, savvy staffers who effectively articulate the free-market message. It also lacks an influential statewide taxpayer group. The “Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations,” a convention backer, doesn’t have a physical address or phone number, and a search of the Office of State Ethics lobbyist database reveals the organization has no human presence at the capitol. The Constitution Convention Campaign’s own website demonstrates that the state’s right needs a bit more polish: “Direct initiative is Jacksonian democracy at it’s [sic] best. Lets [sic] provide the people with an option to petition issues if they so choose, lets [sic] let the people decide!”

In recent months, Connecticut’s conservatives couldn’t torpedo a minimum-wage hike in a state with nearly the highest cost of doing business in the U.S. They couldn’t defeat the latest round of economy-crippling measures peddled by “global climate change” hucksters. (Many Republicans enthusiastically voted for the legislation.) With murderous home invasions here making national news, they couldn’t even secure victory in the “three strikes” fight.

Clearly, many more resources are needed if Connecticut’s right is to be effective. It’s a given that the Republican Party needs to be purged of its visionless, feckless leaders. But far more essential is a plodding, house-to-house marketing effort targeting a citizenry that has marinated in near-Marxism for decades. Activists need to explain why capitalism is better than collectivism, how the welfare state destroys families and fosters crime, and why education freedom is preferable to a unionized government monopoly. Doing so isn’t as thrilling as constitutional tinkering, but in the long run, it would be much more effective. (At the local level, many taxpayer groups are already doing this work, and have much to teach statewide activists.)

In their grandiosity and naïveté, the leaders of the Constitution Convention Campaign have badly misjudged the lay of Connecticut’s political and public-policy land. To compensate for their dangerous myopia, “vote no” in November.

D. Dowd Muska is a writer, commentator and public-policy researcher. His website is www.dowdmuska.com.

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