Knoxville — Marion County Democratic Party Chair Anita Martin reports that, while it was a long day in Des Moines on Saturday, it was a productive and peaceful one.
Martin and four other Marion County Democrats attended their party's state convention at Hy-Vee Hall. She was joined by Ron Long, County Treasurer; Cheryl Scherr, Platform Committee; Tarry Vant Hof, County Vice Chair; and Amy Young, Central Committee. A total of 588 Democrats attended, a number that exceeded that needed for a quorum.
Martin assisted the attendees with their credentials before making her way to the convention floor. By then, the party was already discussing its platform and Constitutional amendment proposals.
"There was a good deal of discussion about word limits in our platform," Martin said. "Both sides had valid points, because when we start discussion on planks within the platform, we find that because of word limits, we may not have the complete intent of the plank."
One plank was defeated because of this, regarding recalls. Defeated planks included:
• Taxing all income equally.
• Re-licensing/construction fo coal and nuclear power plants.
• (Minority Report) The creation of the Department of Peace and Nonviolent Conflict Resolution.
• (Minority Report) Civil rights restoration upon criminal sentence completion.
• Nationalization of the Federal Reserve and its placement under the Department of the Treasury.
Twelve more planks were proposed, and of those, 11 passed. The Iowa Democrats have placed their top platform priorities here: http://www.iowademocrats.org/2012/06/official-state-party-platform-prioritization/
The 2008 national platform can be found here:
http://www.democrats.org/about/party_platform
Martin said there was nothing contentious about the convention. She said the same is untrue for the Republican convention, held in the lower level of the convention center. According to Martin, arguments could be heard inside the Democratic convention. A report from the Republican convention will be available tomorrow.
"Our convention ran very smoothly," Martin said. "We had a good group."
Martin also noted that the Democrats did not "pass the bucket" this year. National At-Large Delegates are a diverse group, including gender equity and minorities, she added. Martin is also proud of the party's youth delegates who took part in the convention. Ages ranged from 9-17, and they offered planks to the platform.
The convention adjourned at 9:01 p.m., about 15 hours after Martin arrived.
"It was a long day," Martin said, "but a fruitful one."
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