Four More Years?
Jonah Goldberg wonders if Democrats might not put the quiet word out at their convention for delegates not to engage in the usual “four more years” chant during the convention given that nobody, you know, really wants four more years of what we just went through.
In that context, here’s an excerpt of the Democrats’ 1980 platform (coming out of four years of Jimmy Carter) which sounds like it could very well be from their platform today (via Charles Cooke):
“After nearly four years in office, we Democrats have not solved all of America’s problems. Most of these problems we inherited. Eight years of Republican politics left this nation weak, rudderless, unrespected and deeply divided.”
“In all of our economic programs, the one overriding principle must be fairness. All Americans must bear a fair share of our economic burdens and reap a fair share of our economic benefits.”
“Republicanism—neglect of the poor and disadvantaged, disdain for working men and women, compassion only for the rich and the privileged . . .”
“We pledge to secure the rights of working women, homemakers, minority women and elderly women to a fair share of our economy. . . . Special attention must be paid to the employment needs of women. Today, women who can find work earn, on average, only fifty-nine cents for every dollar earned by men. . . . Perhaps most important, the Democratic Party is committed to the principle of equal pay for work of comparable value. Through new job classification studies by the Department of Labor, job reclassification by the Office of Personnel Management and new legislation from Congress if necessary, we will ensure that women in both the public and private sectors are not only paid equally for work which is identical to that performed by men, but are also paid equally for work which is of comparable value to that performed by men.”
“The answer is to enact a comprehensive, universal national health insurance plan,” which will bring ”an end to the widespread use of exclusions that disadvantage women and that charge proportionately higher premiums to women.”
“Reproductive Rights—We fully recognize the religious and ethical concerns which many Americans have about abortion. We also recognize the belief of many Americans that a woman has a right to choose whether and when to have a child . . . the Democratic Party supports the 1973 Supreme Court decision on abortion rights as the law of the land and opposes any constitutional amendment to restrict or overturn that decision.”
No wonder Democrat congressional candidates are skipping the convention.
Tags: Barack Obama, democrat national convention
