Mark Levin's new book The Liberty Amendments proposes that state legislatures use their Article V power to call a convention to propose new constitutional amendments for state ratification. The unorthodox process seems impractical at first -- it's never been used, it's off the mainstream political radar, few people even know it exists, etc. -- but a closer look reveals transformative advantages over the prevailing political strategies of the day.
1. Conservatives' Washington-centric focus has born little fruit.
America's news coverage and political mindset revolve around Washington D.C. and, by its nature, Washington D.C. revolves around big government. It is a culture that is embarrassed by constitutionalism, gravitates toward racial, gender, and ethnic politics, and works to convince conservatives to abandon their best ideas and arguments out of political fear.
The Potomac is poor ground for a constitutional battle.
2. Money and the establishment make it unlikely to get solid conservatives in federal office.
Winning U.S. Senate candidates spend an average of $10.4 million per race. The average successful House race costs $1.6 million. Citizens who can marshal such vast resources are rare. Rarer still is a candidate with such wealth who has developed political convictions strong enough withstand Washington's corrupting onslaught.
Non-megabucks candidates generally climb the political ladder slowly, building a fund-raising base as they go. Unfortunately, that method leads legislators to scratch innumerable backs on the way to the House and Senate. Each deal made, each unsavory compromise reached, each postponement of what they originally ran for in order to ensure a safe reelection dulls the conservatives' senses and leads to legislators whose only elite skill is winning another term.
Nowhere is this phenomenon more evident than the current Republican caucus of the US Senate. There are perhaps eight to 13 reliably conservative members in the entire group. Turning those 13 into 60 is a worthy goal, but given the shallow pool from which we have to draw, "elect more Republicans" appears to be a weak strategy.
