Ray Newman

As we move through the Primary Elections in this Presidential election cycle, we will come to a time this summer when both major parties: Democrat and Republican will have their conventions.

During these national conventions, the delegates will not only select their party candidate but will adopt a party platform on which the candidates will pledge to support and base their run for the White House.

I am indebted to my good friend at Brentwood News Service; U.D. Roberts, President and CEO, for his major research on five different areas of former platforms of the two major parties. Permission was granted me to reprint and share this information with my readers. Their research included looking at five different areas of both party platforms. Those five areas are: taxes, right to life, family values/heterosexuality, right to bear arms, and finally, English as common language.

I will present these with no comments allowing my readers to make their own decisions regarding what is public information from these platforms. The years that are compared are 2004 and 2000.

Democrat Platforms

TAXES: "We will roll back the Bush tax cuts for those making more than $200,000.... We must restore our values to our tax code. We want a tax code that rewards work and creates wealth for more people, not a tax code that hoards wealth for those who already have it... we simply cannot afford the massive Bush tax cuts for the very wealthiest. We should set taxes for families making more than $200,000 a year at the same level as in the late 1900s...." 2004

RIGHT TO LIFE: "... we proudly stand for a woman's right to choose, consistent with Roe V. Wade, and regardless of her ability to pay." 2004

FAMILY VALUES/HETEROSEXUALITY: "We support full inclusion of gay and lesbian families in the life of our nation and seek equal responsibilities, benefits, and protections for these families." 2004

RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS: "...need to keep guns away from those who shouldn't have them. ... We need mandatory child safety locks...." 2000

ENGLISH AS A COMMON LANGUAGE: "We oppose language-based discrimination in all its forms, including in the provision of education services, and encourage so-called English-plus initiatives...." 2000

Republican Platforms

TAXES: "We believe that good government is based on a system of limited taxes and spending. Furthermore, we believe that the federal government should be limited and restricted to the functions mandated by the United States Constitution. The taxation system should not be used to redistribute wealth or fund ever-increasing entitlements and social programs... Our party endorses the President's proposals to make tax relief permanent...." 2004

RIGHT TO LIFE: "...the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed.... We praise Republicans in Congress for passing...a ban on the inhumane procedure known as partial birth abortion. And we applaud President Bush for signing legislation outlawing partial birth abortion and for vigorously defending it in the courts." 2004

FAMILY VALUES/HETEROSEXUALITY: "We further believe that legal recognition and the accompanying benefits afforded couples should be preserved for that unique and special union of one man and one woman which has historically been called marriage." 2004

RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS: "We defend the constitutional right to keep and bear arms, and we affirm the individual responsibility to safely use and store firearms." 2000

ENGLISH AS COMMON LANGUAGE: "...English empowers. That is why fluency in English must be the goal of bilingual education programs. We support the recognition of English as the nation's common language." 2000

From where I stand, it has personally been helpful for me in making my decision for whom I will cast my vote by reading the entire platform of both major parties over the last several election cycles. Following the conventions this summer, the party's will post on their web sites their platforms on which their candidates will run.

It has been interesting to me the number of times I have asked individuals if they know and understand what is stated in the party's platforms. I have been given answers such as: "I do not vote for a party, I vote for a person." To vote for a person without an understanding of their party's platform upon which they are running and to which they are committed is to be uninformed when one goes to vote.

This election is too important to go into the voting booth uninformed. The candidates and the parties make it very easy to let us know where they stand on all the issues by posting information on their web sites.

Barrow Countian Ray Newman is Specialist: Ethics & Public Affairs with the Georgia Baptist Convention. Contact him at fwisbrn@aol.com

Originally published Wednesday, January 30, 2008