TownHall.com is reporting that in spite of accusations by DNC chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz that the Republican platform was "extreme," the Democrats took the radical step of deliberately deleting the name of God from their own.
The 2008 platform read:
“We need a government that stands up for the hopes, values, and interests of working people, and gives everyone willing to work hard the chance to make the most of their God-given potential.”
The 2012 platform removes the words “God-given” and reconstructs the paragraph to say:
“We gather to reclaim the basic bargain that built the largest middle class and the most prosperous nation on Earth – the simple principle that in America, hard work should pay off, responsibility should be rewarded, and each one of us should be able to go as far as our talent and drive take us.”
A Democratic official explained the omission, saying the paragraph was meant to be about growing the middle class, not faith. “The 2008 platform reference is ‘God-given’ and is about growing the middle class and making America fair, not actually about faith. The platform includes an entire plank on the importance of faith based organizations and the tremendous work that they do. Further, the language we use to talk about faith and religion is exactly the same vocabulary as 2008. I would also note that the platform mentions: ‘faith’ 11 times; ‘religion’ or ‘religious’ 9 times; ‘church’ 2 times (one is a quote); and, ‘clergy’ 1 time.”
Controversy is also swirling around the DNC's decision to remove all references to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
In 2008, the platform read:
"Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel. The parties have agreed that Jerusalem is a matter for final status negotiations. It should remain an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths."
The 2012 platform contains several paragraphs hailing the president and the Democratic party for their commitment to Israel, but makes no mention of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, which is a major sticking point with the Palestinians.
The Romney campaign has issued a response to this particular change:
“It is unfortunate that the entire Democratic Party has embraced President Obama’s shameful refusal to acknowledge that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. Four years of President Obama’s repeated attempts to create distance between the United States and our cherished ally have led the Democratic Party to remove from their platform an unequivocal acknowledgment of a simple reality. As president, I will restore our relationship with Israel and stand shoulder to shoulder with our close ally.”
Matthew Archbold of the Creative Minority Report blog of the National Catholic Register says no one should be surprised by these changes to the platform.
"Who could've foreseen that the party that's for taxpayer funded abortion, gay marriage, and death panels for the elderly would want to drop any mention of God? Yeah, pretty much everyone."
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