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WASHINGTON - Who wants to change the U.S. Constitution?
Not too many people.
But, that didn't deter Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics from trying to drum up support for a second constitutional convention.
With a book calling for a constitutional rewrite and his own convention, of sorts, here Friday, Sabato was getting a lot of debate on the issue.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito wondered, "Why am I here? I'm pretty fond of the Constitution we have now."
Geraldine Ferraro, a former House member who in 1984 became the first woman vice presidential candidate, said plenty is wrong with the way government is operating now. But a new convention would open the doors to all kinds of mischief, she said.
"I'm not a fan of a constitutional convention," she said. "In fact, I'm afraid of it. Despite what people say, the system works pretty well."
Sabato's book, "A More Perfect Constitution," offers 23 changes he believes are needed to bring the blueprint of American government into the political realities of the 21st century.
Among them are limiting the president to a single, six-year term, expanding the number of senators and House members, bringing order to the political process, and returning to Congress more war-making powers.
He proposes the Supreme Court should have 12 members, instead of nine, and that federal judges should serve for 15-year terms, instead of life. He wants a provision for a balanced budget.
Even though the Constitution allows states to call a constitutional convention, it has never been done since the original was ratified in 1787.
"For people who say this is radical, I refer to what some of the founders said," Sabato said. "They wanted us to do this with regularity. They would have been shocked if they knew after 220 years we had ever held a constitutional convention."
Sabato brought together House members, former senators, political operatives, journalists, political science professors, and former administration officials to talk about changing the Constitution.
"Our goal is to get people thinking, discussing and debating the points we raise about the inadequacies of the Constitution," he said. "It will probably take a generation before anything happens, if it happens then."
Panelists offered little support for Sabato's proposal that the House should be expanded from its present 435 members to 1,000. Ferraro said it would be "catastrophic" to have 1,000 House members arguing an issue.
When one panel was asked whether they liked Sabato's proposal to make former presidents and vice presidents permanent senators, all six of them said, no.
Most panelists agreed that the political process that elects a president is out of control with states rushing to push their primaries earlier and earlier. But taking the authority to set those elections away from the states would be difficult, many speakers conceded.
Allowing that he hadn't read Sabato's book when he accepted the speaking opportunity, Alito said there is reason to be wary of changing the Constitution.
He didn't think much of the professor's call for television coverage of the Supreme Court. Pulling out a TV schedule, Alito listed a dozen or so TV shows with judges administering ersatz justice. "We'd have really stiff competition," he said.
Alito asked rhetorically if a similar group of statesmen, like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison and others, could be found today.
"I'm skeptical we'd be so fortunate if we tried it a second time," Alito said.
But, the justice said Sabato's ideas do provide a forum for discussing the Constitution and educating citizens about their government. If nothing else, Alito said, "they will learn what our Constitution says."
Not too many people.
But, that didn't deter Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics from trying to drum up support for a second constitutional convention.
With a book calling for a constitutional rewrite and his own convention, of sorts, here Friday, Sabato was getting a lot of debate on the issue.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito wondered, "Why am I here? I'm pretty fond of the Constitution we have now."
Geraldine Ferraro, a former House member who in 1984 became the first woman vice presidential candidate, said plenty is wrong with the way government is operating now. But a new convention would open the doors to all kinds of mischief, she said.
"I'm not a fan of a constitutional convention," she said. "In fact, I'm afraid of it. Despite what people say, the system works pretty well."
Sabato's book, "A More Perfect Constitution," offers 23 changes he believes are needed to bring the blueprint of American government into the political realities of the 21st century.
Among them are limiting the president to a single, six-year term, expanding the number of senators and House members, bringing order to the political process, and returning to Congress more war-making powers.
He proposes the Supreme Court should have 12 members, instead of nine, and that federal judges should serve for 15-year terms, instead of life. He wants a provision for a balanced budget.
Even though the Constitution allows states to call a constitutional convention, it has never been done since the original was ratified in 1787.
"For people who say this is radical, I refer to what some of the founders said," Sabato said. "They wanted us to do this with regularity. They would have been shocked if they knew after 220 years we had ever held a constitutional convention."
Sabato brought together House members, former senators, political operatives, journalists, political science professors, and former administration officials to talk about changing the Constitution.
"Our goal is to get people thinking, discussing and debating the points we raise about the inadequacies of the Constitution," he said. "It will probably take a generation before anything happens, if it happens then."
Panelists offered little support for Sabato's proposal that the House should be expanded from its present 435 members to 1,000. Ferraro said it would be "catastrophic" to have 1,000 House members arguing an issue.
When one panel was asked whether they liked Sabato's proposal to make former presidents and vice presidents permanent senators, all six of them said, no.
Most panelists agreed that the political process that elects a president is out of control with states rushing to push their primaries earlier and earlier. But taking the authority to set those elections away from the states would be difficult, many speakers conceded.
Allowing that he hadn't read Sabato's book when he accepted the speaking opportunity, Alito said there is reason to be wary of changing the Constitution.
He didn't think much of the professor's call for television coverage of the Supreme Court. Pulling out a TV schedule, Alito listed a dozen or so TV shows with judges administering ersatz justice. "We'd have really stiff competition," he said.
Alito asked rhetorically if a similar group of statesmen, like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison and others, could be found today.
"I'm skeptical we'd be so fortunate if we tried it a second time," Alito said.
But, the justice said Sabato's ideas do provide a forum for discussing the Constitution and educating citizens about their government. If nothing else, Alito said, "they will learn what our Constitution says."