The GOP National Platform

Wednesday evening the Committee on Resolutions of the 2008 Republican National Convention completed platform deliberations. As a member of that committee, I have to say that I was pleased with the process and the result.

On Monday evening, we were given copies of the draft platform drawn up by the committee staff. It was a very conservative document. On Tuesday morning, we broke up into subcommittees to refine the draft and then Tuesday afternoon and all day Wednesday, we discussed each section in the full committee. The 2008 platform will be about half the size of the 2000 and 2004 platforms.

As for the process, I thought that our chairmen, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California and Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina did an excellent job of running the meeting. Being a rules guy, I found their informal style a bit disquieting but as the meetings dragged on they more than won me over.

I had heard in past platform committees that members sometimes went away felling that they had not been treated fairly, that their voices had not been heard. I can confidently say that no one felt that way here. Rep McCarthy and Sen Burr were patient, fair and used a sense of humor in dealing with the committee. They were very accommodating and made sure that everyone had the chance to be heard. They ran the committee in an informal manner that fostered consensus-building.

The most interesting behind the scenes happening was the McCain camp. McCain had staffers in all the sub-committee rooms and in main committee room. Their job was to preempt any amendments that might prove embarrassing to the candidate. If an amendment were proposed that differed from McCain's position, the person making the amendment would be asked to come to a back room (the woodshed) where McCain staffers would attempt to persuade them to withdraw or modify their proposal. In the room McCain supporters were told to follow the lead of Congresswoman Heather Wilson of New Mexico. She was the voice of the McCain campaign in the room. A very eloquent voice.

When issues came up that they disagreed with, the McCain camp was prepared and organized. They had their talking points and their people were lined up to state their case. For example, on the issue of drilling in ANWR, the McCain camp was adamant that the platform be silent on the issue. Even though everyone who spoke agreed that we should drill in ANWR, the committee overwhelmingly rejected adding ANWR to the platform. Props to the campaign for having all their ducks in a row.

In the end, the platform is a solid, Republican platform. Our platform is pro-life, pro-gun, pro-family and pro-business. It takes a strong stand on immigration, energy and taxes. It is pro-America and supports our troops. Is it perfect? No. But as a member of the platform committee, I am proud to have participated in its creation.

The next step is for the full convention to ratify the platform on Monday.