Most Iowa caucus-goers head home after the presidential candidate selection, but hard-core activists stick around to elect county convention delegates and consider resolutions for the party platform. If you bring a resolution to your precinct caucus, you have a good chance of getting it approved.

Little-known fact for those who plan to exercise this option: platform resolutions are supposed to be written in a different format from other political resolutions you may have read.

Resolutions adopted by legislative bodies usually begin with several “Whereas” clauses, followed by one or more “be it resolved” clauses.

In contrast, party platform resolutions should be drafted with “we support” or “we oppose” language.

Here are a couple of examples for Bleeding Heartland readers who may want to write their own resolutions. The first is a resolution Planned Parenthood Action encouraged Iowans to bring to the 2008 Democratic and Republican caucuses.

Reproductive Freedom Resolution

Because we believe it is a fundamental constitutional right that individual Americans, not government, can best take responsibility for making intensely personal decisions about their own reproductive lives, we support reproductive freedom as established by Roe v. Wade.

We support state and federal funding for reproductive health services and age appropriate, medically accurate sex education.  We believe that the best way to make abortion rare is to ensure that individuals have access to voluntary family planning, counseling and information.

Furthermore, we support federal funding for voluntary international family planning because it saves the lives of women and children, contributes to the welfare of communities and creates hope for humanity.

I’d be surprised if that resolution passed in any Republican precinct in Iowa. Over the years, I’ve heard a few Democrats vote against similar pro-choice resolutions at my precinct, but the resolutions have always passed easily.

For those who want to oppose specific policies, this 2008 resolution from the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa may be helpful:

Democratic Caucus:

No National ID. Americans have long rejected a national ID card. A national ID could be used to restrict freedom of movement, deprive deserving Americans of benefits and privileges, invade our privacy and divide our society. The Democratic Party opposes the introduction of a national ID to American life, and attempts to create a national ID through back channels, such as the state driver’s licenses.

Republican Caucus:

No National ID. Americans have long rejected a national ID card. A national ID could be used to restrict freedom of movement, invade personal privacy and trample on state’s rights. The Republican Party opposes the introduction of a national ID to American life, and attempts to create a national ID through back channels, such as the state driver’s licenses.

There’s no rule against bringing a “whereas/be it resolved” document to your precinct on January 3. Lots of resolutions in that form sail through the precinct caucuses. The problem is that before the county convention, someone on the platform committee will rewrite the resolution to conform to the “we support” or “we oppose” format. That person may make other editorial changes at the same time.

If you want to avoid any possible distortion of your idea, it’s best to draft your resolution in a way county committees can accept with no rewriting.

The county platform committees decide which resolutions to put up to a vote at county conventions.

In my experience, most platform resolutions are approved unanimously at Democratic precinct caucuses. In fact, in January 2008, our precinct chair asked for a motion to consider all resolutions as a bloc (“They’ll sort them out at the county”). The division into presidential preference groups, counting and realigning took so long that people were exhausted by the time we got around to the platform resolutions. Reading them aloud and voting on each individually might have taken another hour. The motion to approve all resolutions as a bloc passed our caucus with no objections.

Feel free to post any platform resolutions you plan to bring to your precinct in the comments.

UPDATE: The LGBT group One Iowa is encouraging pro-equality Republicans to take the following resolutions to their caucuses:

   * We believe that our schools are a place where every student should feel welcome and accepted, and support any school clubs, such as Gay Straight Alliances, that seek to make our schools more inclusive of every student.

   * We support the Bullying Law to ensure that all students are a safe, nurturing environment in which to learn

   * We believe in pro-family policies that support ALL loving and committed couples and their children.

   * We support the current Iowa Civil Rights Code and believe that it helps ensure a level playing field for all Iowans.

   * As conservatives who believe in limited government, we oppose any unnecessary and burdensome constitutional amendments that seek to limit the freedoms of Iowans and Americans.

   * We believe in limited government intrusion in people’s lives and believe that same-sex couples should continue to have the freedom to have a civil marriage in Iowa.

SECOND UPDATE: The Justice Not Politics coalition drafted this resolution for Democrats and Republicans to bring to their caucuses:

We believe in a fair and independent judiciary, which is accountable to the Constitution and the law, not politicians and special interests.

We support Iowa’s system of selecting judges based on merit, not political appointment or partisan election.