
<p>One of the secondary narratives that circulate around the leftwing media sphere is that the Republican Party does not have a Platform. ; It is just about power – not issues.</p>



<p>It is true that the Republican National Convention in 2020 took a pass on producing the traditional “Platform” at the National Convention. ; I have mixed feelings about that. ; For many years, I have written of the meaninglessness of the national platforms. ; They are often put together by the most ardent – and often one-issue – activists.</p>



<p>At the conventions, there is heated debate on the planks – and a lot of reporting about the process and the results. ; However … that is about the last time anyone pays attention to THE Platform. ; The policies of a political party in America are set by those we nominate and elect. ; Presidents routinely ignore or even reject portions of the Platform with which they do not agree. ; The issues arise from people – not paper.</p>



<p>Still, I do believe there is some value in issuing a Platform at the national conventions. ; Flawed or meaningless as it may be in implementing real policy, it still serves to bring issues to public attention. ; It still lets those running for office know what the people – at least the party members – are thinking. ; But as a foundation for actual policy implementation – zippo. ; ;</p>



<p>Just ask yourself how many times have you heard politicians, pundits or the press referring to the platforms of the political parties – or specific planks? ; Me neither. ; And I follow this stuff as a profession.</p>



<p>Still, I think the Republican Party made a mistake in not issuing the traditional Platform. ; If nothing else, it would have avoided the cheap-shot criticisms from the Democrats who did produce a Platform – and immediately ignored it.</p>



<p>The larger issue, however, is the claims by Democrats that the GOP does not have a platform-of-beliefs. ; Their accusations are another political narrative based on a lie. ; ;</p>



<p>For the better part of five years, I have consistently explained my disdain for the Trump personality and my appreciation of the conservative issues he pursued in office – with some notable exceptions, of course.</p>



<p>We conservatives believe in stemming the growth of the federal government – lower taxes and fewer regulations. ; We believe in the rule-of LAW and the courts-of-LAW as opposed to the vigilante-style court-of-public-opinion. ; We believe in fundamental and honest education – as opposed to political indoctrination. ; We support choice in education. ; We believe in LEGAL immigration and secure borders. ; We believe in funding police to do their jobs to “serve and protect.” ; We believe that the developing human in the womb has a constitutional and moral right to life – with extreme exceptions. ; We believe in a free-market economic system. ; We believe in honest and secure elections in which every American has a reasonable ability to cast a ballot if they wish to do so. ; We believe in the right of good folks to own guns – and the need to take them away from the bad actors. We believe in a strong defense. ; We believe in American exceptionalism. ; We believe in <em>e pluribus unum</em> as opposed to the divisive evil of identity politics and political correctness.</p>



<p>I could go on and on &#8212; and we could fairly debate the subtext of these “planks” in the conservative Republican Platform – but you get the point. ; Both Democrats and Republicans – progressives and conservatives – have their juxtaposed beliefs. ; To say that one side does not have a platform of issues and policy proposals is a political lie. ; The difference in the policies between the parties is one side believes in the power of centralized government and the other side (the good folks, I might add) believe in freedom of the individual. ; It is the difference from ruling from the top down and governing from the bottom up.</p>



<p>So. There ‘tis.</p>

Does the GOP have a platform?
