Four former Iowa congressmen are among a new group urging candidates to adopt a more civil tone as the campaign of 2010 winds down.  

The name of the new group is “Former Members of Congress for Common Ground.”  The group has written an open letter to candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, asking for a bit of a rhetorical cease fire.  The Iowa congressmen who’ve signed onto the letter are Berkley Bedell, a Democrat, and three Republicans: Jim Leach, Jim Ross Lightfoot and Tom Taukee. 

The group’s letter says none of the ex-members of congress shirked from a partisan fight, but the group says modern-day politicians seem more intent on tearing down their opponent than on finding common ground so congress can come up with solutions to the nation’s most vexing problems. 

While four former Iowa congressmen have signed onto the letter, the list of other former members of Iowa’s congressional delegation who have not is long.  It includes Democrats Michael Blouin, John Culver, Dave Nagle and Neil Smith and Republicans Greg Ganske, Fred Grandy, Roger Jepsen and Jim Nussle.