Who Will Don the Wigs?

Joe Mathews, journalist, Schwarzenegger biographer, and New America Irvine Senior Fellow, recently shared his opinion on the prospect for a constitutional convention on the Fox and Hounds Daily:

His two insights:

1. A constitutional convention, while it would be difficult and dangerous, is something California should do. There is so much frustration with the status quo here, and so many different ideas about how to fix things, that we need a top-to-bottom review of our state constitution. We need to pare back the convention (it runs more than 150 pages), and look at all three branches - the legislative, executive and judicial.

2. The Bay Area Council and other good government groups, in their heart of hearts, don't really want a constitutional convention. They want legislative reform - changes in how laws are made, budgets are passed, and lawmakers are elected.

That's an interesting perspective, one that reformers are going to have to address honestly as they move forward on this issue.

A couple of weeks ago, I took to the pages of the San Jose Mercury News to ask the following question:

Since this [convention] could open Pandora's box, a crucial question remains unanswered: Who will wrestle with the demons that come out of the box and lead our state to a better tomorrow? Who are California's James Madisons and Thomas Jeffersons, our Ben Franklins and George Washingtons?

The effort to call and conduct a constitutional convention will take years of diligence and determination. The event in Sacramento earlier this week was exciting - even exhilarating - for those who care about political reform. The Bay Area Council is to be commended for its vision on this issue as well as for organizing a conference that was both entertaining and deeply substantive.

Who will step forward to keep this momentum going, to turn this excitement into a movement? Who will don their (metaphorical) powdered wigs, roll up their (metaphorical) puffy sleeves and see this thing through to real political change for our state?