It’s mostly true that nobody reads the fine print of party platforms, and this week’s Democratic convention is no exception. NJ Today reported earlier this week that there was near unanimity on the platform among Democrats, but that was unanimity about what was in the platform. What was not included in the platform was another story.
The omission of the words “God-given” and any reference to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, created a stir among some Democrats, and left the party open to criticism from Republicans. The White House interceded, and the president is said to have ordered the language back in, prompting a noisy floor vote on amendments yesterday leaving some wondering which side had been victorious.
“The Democrats screwed up. I have no idea how the hell it got out of the platform, but thank God it got back in the platform,” said Delegate Steven Goldstein. “I frankly would like to know who, how, when, where and why it was taken out of the platform in the first place.”
Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who co-chaired the platform committee, told NJ Today yesterday that he didn’t know how or why the language was omitted, but said the fact that President Obama himself stepped in, should send a message that he takes the platform seriously.
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“President Barack Obama says, ‘I want my platform to be exactly about where I stand and the Democratic party stands,'” Booker said. “Romney on the other hand says ‘Oh, that abortion plank in the Republican platform that says rape, incest, even the health of the mother — no abortion. Oh, I don’t necessarily believe that.’ He’s not intervening on his platform to change it.”
Sen. Loretta Weinberg said, “I don’t think it was an exclusion of language; I think it was some kind of error, which meant that the language wasn’t in the platform.” While she admitted that was a rather larger error, she added, “When people brought it to the attention of the White House, the language was included in the platform.”
The devil may be in the details, but Democrats in Charlotte say President Obama rightly interceded to make sure that God was back in the fine print. They say they’re confident that after tonight both party platforms will recede into the background to be replaced by other issues, large and small.
David Cruz reports from the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.