What the major political parties stand for.

In this political year, with all the presidential hoopla, facts readily become swept away by hype. Presidential candidates become invested with the most astonishing power - the ability to drop the price of gas by $2.00 a gallon, the ability to insure that every American has a perfect healthcare plan that costs virtually nothing, the ability to make every child above average in terms of educational achievement - to decree peace, establish justice, ensure a good job for everyone and eliminate rain on weekends.

People actually buy this stuff, which is why the cynical professionals in the ad business keep it up. But if you want to know where the parties stand on the real issues of the day, you have to read the platforms. Ugh! Page after page of endless self congratulation, bashing the other guy, declaring that only "they" can solve the problems of the day. Forget it, back to the ads with the pretty girls (or boys)!

So, as a public service, I decided to slog through this stuff to distill from the two major parties, Democrats and Republicans, perhaps 500 words of actual content in each of the platforms. This material is what they actually believe and what they actually plan to do regarding the major issues of the day. You can read what they have to say in 5 minutes. I hope you do.

Now, these are the platforms for 2000. But not to worry. Neither party has changed its stance on a major issue for many years and it is unlikely that either one will deviate much when they release their new platforms in August. If they do, I'll let you know.

Democratic Party - Key Positions

Note: All Caps headlines are not part of the platform. Words in [ ] are supplied for clarity. All other words on this sheet are verbatim from the "2000 National Democratic Platform” adopted August 15, 2000 containing 24,300 words. Issues are arranged alphabetically.

ABORTION - The Democratic Party stands behind the right of every woman to choose [abortion], consistent with Roe v. Wade, and regardless of ability to pay.

CAMPAIGN REFORM - [Democrats] will insist on tough new lobbying reform, publicly-guaranteed TV time for debates and advocacy by candidates, and a crackdown on special interest issue ads.

EDUCATION - What America needs are public schools that compete with one another and are held accountable for results, not private school vouchers that drain resources from public schools and hand over the public's hard-earned tax dollars to private schools with no accountability.

GUN CONTROL - We should require a photo license I.D., a full background check, and a gun safety test to buy a new handgun in America.

HATE CRIMES - are more than assaults on people, they are assaults on the very idea of America. They should be punished with extra force. Protections should include hate violence based on gender, disability or sexual orientation. And the Republican Congress should stop standing in the way of this pro-civil rights, anti-crime legislation.

HEALTH CARE - Universal Health Coverage. We should guarantee access to affordable health care for every child in America.

HOMOSEXUAL RIGHTS - We support continued efforts, like the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, to end workplace discrimination against gay men and lesbians. We support the full inclusion of gay and lesbian families in the life of the nation. This would include an equitable alignment of benefits.

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS - We also want to reverse the widening gap between rich and poor and nations, which is why Al Gore and the Democratic Party back debt forgiveness for the world's poorest nations.

STEM CELL RESEARCH - We should allow stem cell research to make important new discoveries.

TERRORISM: While fighting terrorism, we will protect the civil liberties of all Americans. Our justice system must guarantee fairness with procedures that protect the rights of the accused, even under the unusual circumstances of the investigation of threats to our national security. We must avoid stereotyping, for it defeats the highest purposes of our country if citizens feel automatically suspect by virtue of their ethnic origin

Republican Party - Key Positions

Note: All Caps headlines are not part of the platform. Words in [ ] are supplied for clarity. All other words on this sheet are verbatim from the “Republican Platform 2000” which was adopted August 3, 2000 and contained 34,653 words. Issues are arranged alphabetically.

ABORTION - We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children. Our purpose is to have legislative and judicial protection of that right against those who perform abortions. We oppose using public revenues for abortion and will not fund organizations which advocate it. We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent human life.

ABSTINENCE - Abstinence from sexual activity is the only protection that is 100 percent effective against out-of-wedlock pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, when transmitted sexually. We oppose school-based clinics that provide referrals, counseling, and related services for contraception and abortion

CAMPAIGN REFORM - We affirm the right of individuals to voluntarily participate in labor organizations and to bargain collectively. We therefore support the right of states to enact Right-to-Work laws. No one should be forced to contribute to a campaign or a candidate, so we will vigorously implement the Supreme Court’s Beck decision to stop the involuntary use of union dues for political purposes.

EDUCATION - Children should not be compelled to answer offensive or intrusive questionnaires. We will continue to work for the return of voluntary school prayer to our schools and will strongly enforce the Republican legislation that guarantees equal access to school facilities by student religious groups. We strongly support voluntary student-initiated prayer in school without governmental interference.

GUN CONTROL - Although we support background checks to ensure that guns do not fall into the hands of criminals, we oppose federal licensing of law-abiding gun owners and national gun registration as a violation of the Second Amendment and an invasion of privacy of honest citizens.

HEALTH CARE - We will extend... protections to non-profit organizations — churches, civic and community groups, and the volunteers who sustain them. To reduce health care costs and keep doctors practicing in critical areas like obstetrics, we will reform medical malpractice law on the federal level and urge decisive action on the state level as well.

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS - Negotiate reductions in tariffs on U.S. industrial goods and the elimination of other trade barriers so that our autos, heavy machinery, textiles, and other products will no longer be shut out of foreign markets.

PORNOGRAPHY - Federal obscenity and child pornography laws, especially crimes involving the Internet, must be vigorously enforced... We urge States to follow the lead of congressional Republicans by making admissible in court the prior similar criminal acts of defendants in sexual assault cases.

STEM CELL RESEARCH - With the enormous increase in resources for biomedical research comes accountability for its use, as well as responsibility to maintain the highest ethical standards. We applaud congressional Republicans for the steps they have taken for protection of human embryos and against human cloning, the trafficking in fetal tissue organs, and related abuses.

You will note that each party does not necessarily address the same subject. If there is no corresponding headline from one issue to the next, it's because that party simply didn't address the issue. Remember these were published in mid 2000, over a year before the atrocity of 9-11.

So don't just listen to the candidates and their sound bites. This is what they and their party are invested in. If elected, this is what they will do if they can. Count on it.