Robin Vos thinks he's outsmarted everyone with Iowa-like maps. He'd be wise to hold off.

Of course Robin Vos is a wolf in wolf’s clothing.

He doesn’t even deserve to be called a wolf in sheep’s clothing for apparently embracing an “Iowa-style nonpartisan redistricting" model that would allow the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau to write new legislative maps followed by the approval of lawmakers and the governor.

The Assembly Speaker hasn’t suddenly joined the chorus of good-government types seeking an even playing field where both parties battle it out in competitive districts.

Despite flatly opposing Iowa-style plans in the past, on Tuesday he introduced legislation mirroring Iowa’s that is expected to be voted on by the Assembly today, giving the public a whopping 48 hours to digest a fundamental shift in how the state draws legislative and congressional districts.

For Vos, this has always been about holding on to power at all costs. The only reason Republicans have been able to build supermajorities in both chambers of the legislature is because they drafted the maps and spent millions of taxpayer dollars defending them in court.

Iowa model didn’t come from idyllic ‘Field of Dreams’ sequence

Iowa’s politicians didn’t adopt their model plan in some idyllic “Field of Dreams” sequence in a corn field. One side was afraid it was going to lose its grip on power, so it passed something fairer to avoid having to get a taste of its own medicine. With a new liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, GOP leaders are afraid this time they'll be the ox getting gored.

Just the same, let’s not suffer from the illusion Democrats are any less likely to succumb to the temptation of crafting maps that favor their party. Allowing partisans alone to craft electoral districts is a little like, you guessed it, allowing the fox to guard the hen house.

The best system would allow civil-service professionals draft maps and make provisions for the public to weigh-in throughout the process. A fairer framework must also balance political interests, meaning it can pass in both chambers of the legislature, be signed into law by the governor and survive court challenges. In some respects, the Iowa model hits the mark on many of those points, but some critics say it works in a relatively homogeneous state like Iowa, but wouldn’t in Wisconsin which has slightly more racial and ethnic diversity.

Yet Vos may have – quite unintentionally – done something constructive.

He’s broached the possibility of a negotiated solution. There is still time this fall for the legislative process to work the way it's designed. Let interested parties weigh-in on what they think the best design is for a non-partisan system in Wisconsin. Lawmakers can debate the merits, negotiate with each other and the governor’s office.

And, more importantly, in a timeframe greater than 48 hours yet still with plenty of time before 2024 elections.

Impeachment could turn Wisconsin into political spectacle

The other scenario comes with far more risks. The specter of impeaching a Supreme Court Justice even before she’s heard a single case may excite ideologues, but it risks plunging Wisconsin into a spectacle that could badly backfire. It's not clear Republicans have a coherent legal or ethical case for removing newly elected Justice Janet Protasiewicz. Vos has called on the judge to recuse herself from the case for comments she made during her campaign criticizing the maps.

Nor can they claim the high ground on the high court. Conservative members of the court quashed recusal rules and, like Protasiewicz, have made little attempt to conceal where their sympathies or campaign support stand.

In some versions of the story, the sheep see through the disguise and get the upper hand on the wolf. The speaker would be wise to recognize his clever move comes from a position of weakness. He should put off a forced 48-hour vote and negotiate on the structure for a fairer system for Wisconsin before it’s too late.

Contact Jim Fitzhenry at (920) 993-7154 or jfitzhen@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter at @JimFitzhenry, Instagram at @jimfitzhenry or LinkedIn.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin impeachment threat, redistricting bill mask Republican woes