http://a9.g.akamai.net/7/9/8082/v001/www.democrats.org/pdfs/2004platform.pdf
Be aware it is a PDF.
Discuss.
Seriously, is there a bigger waste of freaking time in this country than party platforms? The only people who are going to know what’s on it are a bunch of fresh faced college grads working at the DNC. I worked in Congress for a Dem and we didn’t pay one bit of attention to the platform during the election. And we were one of the more loyal Democratic offices - I can’t imagine Byrd or Miller agree with 30% of what’s on there.
It’s still the platform.
Arguing it’s use is another debate.
Cripes. Does it have to be so long? I mean, so many words can only a) be meaningless or b) get you in trouble.
I propose that the 2008 Democratic platform be only in video form. Possibly directed by Michael Moore, but it could be a cartoon.
Seriously, though, it is really time to fundamentally change the way parties operate in the US. I have no problem with a two party system (being a staunch Democrat myself), but conventions are a complete waste of time. They are really too long when even the party faithful (like me, who will be there all four days, BTW) only really care about the final 45 minutes.
Christ. Those friggin’ conventions must be run by infomercial directors. They just suck.
Ok, sorry. Ahem. Got sidetracked. What was the debate again?
41 pages?! Good Golly Miss Molly! And it’s a PDF, so I can’t count how many times they use the word “strong”.
Thanks for the link, but I’m not sure what the debate is here. The Repubs haven’t put theirs out yet, but maybe when they do we can start a game wherein you have to guess Is This Phrase from the R or D Platform?
:rolleyes:
Did you (or your Congresscritter) pay any attention to the platform after the election?
You should buy a Mac, the built-in PDF reader is amazing. 
They use the word “strong” 66 times.
Terror is used 59 times.
War, 76 times.
Iraq, 35 times.
Social Security, six times.
Democratic, 77 times.
America, 273 times.
Nope. We paid attention to the platform we ran on, but that wasn’t always the same as the party platform but it sometimes was.
Shouldn’t you frame the discussion by formulating a debate? What are your own statements about it?
I haven’t read the damnable thing. I don’t need to.
All it is is a collection of sops to the various interest groups that make up the Democratic Party. It keeps them mollified and in the big tent.
The Republican platform serves a similar purpose, and is equally unreadable.
Jiminy Christmas, you want us spend a couple hours reading 41 pages of political glurge, then create a debate that, given your history around here, you will most likely comment on with two posts of no more than ten words each?
Pass. You want a debate, create one.
I think I’ll wait for the movie version. I hear it’s going to be a musical.
It beggars belief that such a load of right-wing, nationalistic authoritarianism comes from the leftmost of the two main parties in Earth’s richest and most powerful nation.
I find myself agreeing with Mr. Moto twice in one day (the Sandy Berger thread being the other). I’d better go lie down in a dark room with a cool, damp cloth over my eyes…
Yeah, by Philip Glass. :eek:
That’s why I say there is no major leftist party anymore. There are only centrists and rightists. Championing personal liberty nowadays is seen as something done by quacks, freeks, and utopianists.
I agree on both counts. Somebody stop me if I start talking about joining the NRA.
But I prefer to think that Mr Moto is moving to the Left.
I don’t think I’m moving to the left, Ravenman. I have been spending too much time here, though.
I think you just agree because the Republican platform is a similarly unreadable POS.
Forgot to include you too, Early Out.
The LP Platform is an interesting read:
http://www.lp.org/issues/platform/platform_all.html
Guaranteed to piss off both sides!
Or he could just upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Reader which is probably the ‘built-in’ reader that came pre-installed on your Mac.