SHADOW CONVENTION RAISES ISSUES PARTIES IGNORE

A Democratic Delegate Says She's Attending Both Because Vital Concerns
Aren't Being Addressed

Why am I, a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, also
participating in the Shadow Convention, which starts Sunday?

Because two issues I care about are on the latter's agenda, campaign
finance reform and criminal justice reform.

The Shadow Convention, the brainstorm of columnist Arianna Huffington,
seeks to address important national issues that are being ignored or barely
discussed by Republicans and Democrats alike.

Every day, people see the major parties raise and spend mammoth amounts of
money to address special-interest groups, but they don't see their own
issues being addressed. Some politicians do admit to problems in the
system, but campaign finance reform is still avoided.

I've been invited to talk about the Oregon Political Accountability Act,
which appears on the ballot this November.

Low voter turnout and lack of voter confidence are two sides of the same
coin. We assume that voter apathy means low turnouts, but insincere efforts
to cajole citizens into participating always fail. They don't respect the
logic of nonparticipation. If the electoral process doesn't respect and
reward your participation with response, then why vote?

Campaign finance reform isn't a panacea for the ills of modern democracy.
It doesn't improve our criminal justice system or address civil rights. The
Shadow Convention understands that, but considers campaign finance the
backbone of participation and restoration of trust in government.

Measure 6 would help do that, by providing public funding to candidates who
limit spending and private contributions to their campaigns.

In addition, as chief petitioner for Measure 94, I'm advocating criminal
justice reform. The Shadow Convention organizers want to know how we built
a statewide coalition of more than 4,000, including child advocates,
religious leaders, parents, unions, teachers and judges, to take our
message to the voters.

The Shadow Convention is watching Measure 94, because when voters pass it,
the participants hope this effort will spread throughout the country.

Like many states in the past decade, Oregon has experienced a "tough on
crime" phenomenon. Led by archconservatives peddling fear and media
assertions of growing violence, laws were passed that fundamentally altered
the balance between judges and prosecutors/politicians.

One was Measure 11, passed in 1994, creating mandatory minimum sentences
for 16 crimes. It also automatically sends young people directly to adult
court, rather than letting that be the court's decision, based on a number
of factors.

Oregon is the only state in the country to pair trying juveniles
automatically in adult court to mandatory minimum sentences. When Measure
11 passed, Oregon's policy toward youth shifted toward punishment and away
from rehabilitation.

The Shadow Convention also wants to address the prison building boom. No
matter how long the sentence, though, one day prisoners get released. As a
society, we're not addressing why that person got convicted in the first
place or fixing those problems while they're in prison. We're just
hardening them against society even more.

It appears that political conventions aren't the place to debate the issues
that are on the forefront of the public's mind. The conventions have become
a television production that relies on pollsters, consultants and spin-doctors.

I'd prefer that campaign finance reform and criminal justice reform be on
the Democratic Convention's agenda.

But until both parties are willing to discuss and debate the real issues,
we'll need the Shadow Convention.

Rep. Jo Ann Bowman of Portland represent's House District 19.