{"id":2285990,"date":"2024-06-30T07:30:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-30T11:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-a-party-writes-its-platform-every-four-years-ahead-of-convention-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-06-30T07:40:00","modified_gmt":"2024-06-30T11:40:00","slug":"how-a-party-writes-its-platform-every-four-years-ahead-of-convention-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-a-party-writes-its-platform-every-four-years-ahead-of-convention-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"How a party writes its platform every four years ahead of convention &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-a-party-writes-its-platform-every-four-years-ahead-of-convention-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2285990&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the significance and process of crafting party platforms by the Republicans \u200dand Democrats in \u2064the United States. Historically, a party platform outlines a party&#8217;s ideologies and policy goals,\u200d providing guidance to party members and signaling\u200b commitments to voter bases. The practice dates back to the 1800s,\u200c and while essential\u200d within party lines and for rallying\u2062 core supporters, it&#8217;s noted by experts like\u200c Geoff Layman of Notre Dame that these platforms \u200chold little significance\u2063 for the broader electorate.<\/p>\n<p>In the creation of a \u200dplatform, party conventions, involving leaders, interest groups, and the presumed nominee\u2019s campaign team, play a key role. The typical platform document \u200dis extensive, incorporating a vision\u200c for the nation, identifying key issues,\u2062 and outlining proposed solutions. Although \u200dpresidential\u200d nominees can influence the platform, they don\u2019t \u2063always have final\u200d control, as illustrated by the dispute over abortion stance in Bob Dole\u2019s 1996 presidential campaign.<\/p>\n<p>The 2020 cycle saw the\u200d Republicans repurpose\u2062 their 2016 platform due to constraints presumably related \u200cto the \u2062COVID-19 pandemic, \u2064as claimed\u2063 by party \u200cofficials. This \u200cdecision avoided internal conflicts, \u200bsuch as those over\u2064 abortion rights, which have historically been a contested issue within the party.<\/p>\n<p>For the \u200dupcoming\u200c 2024 platforms, there \u200dis \u2064an expectation that\u2064 internal ideological \u200cuniformity may diminish the platforms\u2019\u200d relevance further. However, contentious\u200c issues like abortion for Republicans and potentially foreign policy issues like the \u2064stance on Israel for Democrats may still \u2064provoke significant debate\u200d within each party. The\u2062 process reflects \u200cboth historical legacies and the dynamic nature of political identities in response \u2064to shifting \u2062societal values and political landscapes.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Although less important than it once was, every four years, both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/republicans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Republicans<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/democrats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Democrats<\/a> gather within their parties to write up their party platforms for the next four years.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The party platform dates back to the 1800s and serves as a way for those within the party, from national to local politicians, to navigate political conversations and policy ideas. In a process between party leaders, interest groups, and others, there can be much back and forth before a platform gets adopted by the party for the next four years. In 2020, however, Republicans did not adopt a new platform and decided to reinstate the 2016 platform instead.<\/p>\n<p>Now, both Democrats and Republicans are likely deep into their phase of designing or redesigning how their party will look as they gear up for their respective conventions. Here&rsquo;s what goes into creating a party platform.<\/p>\n<h2>History of the party platform<\/h2>\n<p>In 1840, Martin Van Buren, a Democrat, was believed to have written the first party platform, which consisted of nine of his positions explained in 536 words. Andrew Jackson&rsquo;s, his Democratic predecessor, departure from office forced the Democratic Party to contend with how to create a party identity when such a strong personality, such as Jackson&rsquo;s, was leaving.<\/p>\n<p>In 1856, Republicans launched their first party platform. By the end of the Civil War, leaders from opposing parties were reading each other&rsquo;s party platforms in order to create their own platform in opposition.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In 1924, parties began writing their platforms in a way that would highlight their own party, notably if their party was in power, and celebrate their accomplishments. When Calvin Coolidge took over the office of the presidency after Warren Harding&rsquo;s death, he took the opportunity to use the GOP platform to talk about Republican accomplishments rather than putting down the Democrats.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;[Platforms] matter within the party and among party activists there, they&rsquo;re sending signals to certain groups within the party. I don&rsquo;t think they matter much at all, and nor have they ever really mattered, for the general electorate,&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/politicalscience.nd.edu\/people\/geoffrey-c-layman\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Geoff Layman<\/a>, chairman of the political science department at the University of Notre Dame, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s almost even less about the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-likes-the-concept-of-a-woman-vp-but-says-there-are-more-important-criteria-than-just-sex\/\" title=\"Trump supports the idea of having a female vice president, but believes that there are other factors more significant than gender alone.\">actual policy position<\/a> and more about sort of winners and losers within <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/election-night-livewire-texas-goes-first-primaries-in-lone-star-state-kick-off-midterm-elections\/\" title=\"*** Election Night Livewire *** Texas Goes First: Primaries in Lone Star State Kick off Midterm Elections\">intra-party battles<\/a>,&rdquo; Layman continued.<\/p>\n<h2>How it gets written<\/h2>\n<p>Longtime party leaders, people from the presumed nominee&rsquo;s campaign, and those who represent special interest groups all gather over the course of a few months to write their party manifesto.<\/p>\n<p>The convention, either the Democratic National Convention or the Republican National Convention, ratifies the party platform as official. <a href=\"https:\/\/tevitroy.org\/27632\/party-platforms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>A typical platform<\/a> is 50-70 pages, typically beginning with an overall vision for the nation, an outline of problems facing the county, and a way to solve those matters.<\/p>\n<p>While the nominee can sometimes have final say if there is something in the platform they believe they simply cannot get on board with or sell to voters, it&rsquo;s a mixed bag of who gets final say over what&rsquo;s included or not in the platform: Whether that be the nominee or the party itself.<\/p>\n<p>Layman pointed to one instance, however, in which the party won over the candidate when Bob Dole ran against President Bill Clinton for president.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In 1996, there was some tension between the Bob Dole campaign and the Republican Party over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1995\/12\/19\/us\/dole-s-switch-on-abortion-leads-quickly-to-furor-on-gop-right.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>the abortion stance<\/a>. The Dole campaign wanted sort of a softer pro-life stance, and the party wanted a bit harder line on abortion,&rdquo; Layman said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The party ended up getting their way. He did note that Dole was &ldquo;a real long shot candidate running against a popular incumbent,&rdquo; so the Dole campaign&nbsp;may have been more inclined to &ldquo;move a little bit more to the middle from the Republican Party&rsquo;s traditional abortion stance.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not sure that the nominee always has sort of absolute control over the platform, but their preferences are certainly strongly considered,&rdquo; Layman said.<\/p>\n<p>When asked about how parties change their platforms, whether that be for social movements making the current stance unpopular or other events, Layman pointed to a specific policy Republicans abruptly switched on.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Republicans had always endorsed the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/attack-of-the-zombie-era\/\" title=\"Attack of the Zombie ERA\">equal rights amendment<\/a> for like 40 consecutive years, up through 1976 and then when Ronald Reagan was the nominee 1980, they completely reversed and opposed the Equal Rights Amendment,&rdquo; Layman said.<\/p>\n<h2>What to expect in 2024 platforms<\/h2>\n<p>&ldquo;In recent years, the platforms have become less important because the parties internally are sort of so homogenous ideologically. But every now and again, something rears its head, like Israel for the Democrats. It may be abortion for the Republicans,&rdquo; Layman said.<\/p>\n<p>In 2020, the Republican Party <a href=\"https:\/\/prod-cdn-static.gop.com\/docs\/Resolution_Platform_2020.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>platform<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/rnc-officially-adopts-2016-gop-042300100.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>adopted<\/a> the 2016 platform, which they chalked up to having limited availability to write it during COVID-19. The party did, however, lay out an agenda in 2020 for a second term under former President Donald Trump with an incredibly short list of wishful items without much explanation about how to get there, said in just 600 words.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Some <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/The_Republican_Party_Platform,_2020\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>items<\/a> include &ldquo;return to normal in 2021,&rdquo; &ldquo;cut prescription drug prices,&rdquo; &ldquo;create 10 million new jobs in 10 months,&rdquo; and &ldquo;create 1 million new small businesses.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If you are trying to stick a platform on one page, I&rsquo;d submit to you that there will be no real platform,&rdquo; Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>The room is set, and delegates begin to arrive for the first day of the Republican National Convention, Monday, Aug. 24, 2020, in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Travis Dove\/The New York Times via AP, Pool)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/college.uchicago.edu\/people\/richard-scott-cooley-sscd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Scott Cooley<\/a>, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago, told the <em>Washington Examiner <\/em>that Republicans&rsquo; choice to adopt the 2016 party platform in its entirety was also strange because it alluded to former President Barack Obama saying the former president was doing a &ldquo;terrible job,&rdquo; but in 2020 that would have been their own nominee, Trump.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The lawyers at the Republican National Committee said &lsquo;you can&rsquo;t start amending it or you have to open it up for all kinds of amendments,&#8217;&rdquo; Cooley said.<\/p>\n<p>In 2020, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2020\/05\/24\/republican-platform-jared-kushner\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><em>Axios<\/em><\/a>  reported Jared Kushner, Trump&rsquo;s son-in-law who was spearheading the platform rewrite, was butting heads with social conservatives on the abortion matter. In the end, with Republicans simply adopting the old platform, the problem was muted.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.presidency.ucsb.edu\/documents\/republican-party-platform-1980\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>1980<\/a>, the Republican Party has had an item calling for the &ldquo;protection of the right to life for unborn children&rdquo; via a constitutional amendment. Some social conservatives, as Cooley pointed out, are concerned with any change in that language.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The 2020 Republican National Convention will adjourn without adopting a new platform until the 2024 Republican National Convention,&rdquo; the resolution from the decision to adopt the old platform states.<\/p>\n<h3>Crafting this year&rsquo;s platform<\/h3>\n<p>Some predict the Republican Party in 2024 may not include anything on the topic of abortion in their platform. Republicans have switched their tune since Roe v. Wade was overturned, as many in the once anti-abortion party have now taken a &lsquo;state&rsquo;s right&rsquo; approach to the matter.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Republicans [in 2024] are kind of grappling with this because there&rsquo;s a part of the party that said, &lsquo;Look, we were dedicated to overturning <em>Roe v. Wade<\/em>, it&rsquo;s gone back to the States, we should be done with this.&rsquo; And there&rsquo;s a part of the party that says &lsquo;no, we want a Human Life Amendment,&#8217;&rdquo; Cooley said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The trouble is social conservatives. They can deliver votes, they don&rsquo;t have money, but they can deliver voter registration drives, they distribute voting guides to churches and things like that,&rdquo; Cooley said.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats have been torn on their own concern: Israel, notably after the Oct. 7 attacks and the war against Hamas resulting in mass casualties in Gaza. Because this conflict is so divisive within the party, Democrats will likely not touch on it and instead prefer a narrow approach.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;A fairly standard approach is you either don&rsquo;t say anything, or you say something that&rsquo;s sort of so broad and inclusive. And I suspect that is how the Biden campaign and the Democratic Party leadership will want to go,&rdquo; Layman said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It will be a very broad statement of, &lsquo;We respect the sovereignty of Israel. The Democratic Party has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-pick-for-pentagon-policy-chief-opposed-sending-troops-to-southern-border\/\" title=\"Biden Pick for Pentagon Policy Chief Opposed Sending Troops to Southern Border\">long supported<\/a> a two-state solution. We&rsquo;re very concerned about the violence and the loss of life on both sides.&rsquo; That&rsquo;s sort of so milk toast that it will at least be meant to make everyone happy, although it will probably make no one happy,&rdquo; Layman predicted.<\/p>\n<p>Each party&rsquo;s platforms are expected to be rolled out at their conventions. The Democratic National Convention is August 19-22 in Chicago, and the Republican National Convention is July 15-18 in Milwaukee. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every four years, Republicans and Democrats convene to draft their party platforms, guiding policies for the next four years. Originating in the 1800s, these platforms provide a roadmap for party members at all levels, from local to national, shaping their political strategies and positions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2910,"featured_media":2285991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/rnc-2020.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[19752,3728,4787,3987,32076],"class_list":["post-2285990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-convention","tag-election","tag-party","tag-platform","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/rnc-2020.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2285990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2910"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2285990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2285990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2285991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2285990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2285990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2285990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}