It’s a political truism that presidential party platforms are only useful for two reasons — to pacify the fringe elements lest they become disruptive during the convention proper, or to provide material for the other side’s oppo research teams. From the reports I’ve seen, so far the DNC has achieved the first goal, and the RNC is busy #WINNING the second.
Reid Epstein, in the Wall Street Journal. “Republicans Descend on Cleveland: What to Watch”:
… After 19 months of intraparty campaigning, the coming fortnight figures to be a break from the quadrennial made-for-TV events to which American political conventions have evolved. There are for the first time in generations serious questions about what the GOP will stand for, in addition to whether it will indeed nominate Donald Trump as its standard-bearer…
The platform discussions that begin today will offer the first signals of Mr. Trump’s hold on the party he aims to lead. The New York businessman is of course under no obligation to follow the GOP platform. Past nominees including Mitt Romney, John McCain and Bob Dole have ignored or disagreed with large portions of the official platforms when they ran for president.
But with Mr. Trump thumbing his nose at leading Republicans on a host of issues – trade, gay rights and immigration, to name three that are expected to be flash points this week – the GOP platform is an opportunity for activists to either embrace his positions as the new stamp of the party, or offer a formal resistance. Activists who dedicate their careers to specific issues have descended on Cleveland already to make sure they have input on the party’s platform…
And so far, according to TIME, the revanchists and Talibangelicals are firmly in control:
… As GOP delegates gather in Cleveland to formulate the party’s principles document, social conservative priorities have dominated the discussion, with several provisions opposition same-sex marriage and endorsing controversial conversion therapy passing preliminary votes Monday. The platform committee approved several of the measures in a sometimes-heated discussion between social conservatives and more moderate Republicans that represent a more conservative shift from the draft platform authored by Republican National Committee staff and outside advisors. But the platform committee softened language calling for legislation in opposition to transgender protections pushed by the Obama administration.
Among the provisions is an assessment that internet pornography is a “public health crisis.”…
Late Night Cast-A-Cold-Eye Thread: Monitoring the GOP PlatformPost + Comments (64)