It doesn't say much for your party's policies if you have to hope no one notices them.
The GOP's party platform, to be adopted at its convention later this week is a medeival document, with a Constitutional amendment for example to make all abortions illegal, among other proposals that would set civilization back a century or two.
the committee approved a draft of the platform McDonnell said “will reflect the heart and soul of the Republican Party” and one committee member called “the most conservative platform in modern history.”
They said that, like it was a good thing.
And the GOP knows they are out of the mainstream with this document. Their strategy on presenting it to the American public? Hoping it will be ignored.
The convention, which convened and then immediately recessed on Monday because of weather concerns, has already put the finishing touches on its platform, including the call for a constitutional ban on abortion without exceptions for rape or incest.
Boehner was unconcerned.
“You ever met anyone who has read the platform?” Boehner said. “I’ve never met anyone who has read the platform. Put it on one sheet of paper, and maybe Americans would be willing to read it. Maybe.”
The party is doing everything possible to ensure that no one finds out what they have planned for the country, writing it out on 50 single-space pages. But some of the "highlights" include:
NO ABORTION IN CASES OF RAPE OR INCEST.
SALUTE TO MANDATORY ULTRASOUNDS.
NO LEGAL RECOGNITION OF SAME-SEX COUPLES.
REPLICATE ARIZONA-STYLE IMMIGRATION LAWS.
NO WOMEN IN COMBAT.
NO NEW TAXES, EXCEPT FOR WAR.
AUDIT THE FED.
NO STATEHOOD, MORE GUNS FOR WASHINGTON DC.
Unfortunately for the Republican party,
more people are interested in hearing what their platform is than hearing either Mitt Romney's or Paul Ryan's speeches.
As the Republican convention gets underway, more Americans express interest in learning about what’s in the GOP platform than in the speeches by either Mitt Romney or his running mate. About half of the public (52%) is interested in learning about the Republican Party’s platform, while 44% are interested in Romney’s acceptance speech and about the same percentage (46%) in Ryan’s convention speech.
They're not stupid enough to think that America will embrace these policies so the strategy is to hide and divert. Medicare will not get much attention either, knowing that Paul Ryan's Medicare voucher proposals are toxic. So the strategy is to blame President Obama. For everything.
Republicans, therefore, speak of Medicare only in terms of how Obama is already ruining it more than Paul Ryan ever would. And Monday, Boehner broadened that line of attack to accuse Obama of making just about everything in America worse.
“He cut Medicare to pay for new entitlements,” Boehner said of Obama. “Gas prices? He made them worse. The political tone? He’s made it worse.”
Boehner also boarded the racism train by backing Romney's lies that President Obama had cut welfare work requirements.
Boehner replied, "The president came out and announced that he was going to waive the work requirements that are outlined in the 1996 welfare reform bill. He's the one who said it. And those work requirements have in fact facilitated moving people from welfare to work. ... For the president to try to waive those work requirements, I think, is wrong for the country, and it's really wrong for those people on welfare who need training, who need skills, who need to get into the mainstream of American society. The premise of your question I think is wrong.
Of course, as the Speaker of the House he tried to downplay his remarks by disingenuously claiming that he didn't know why President Obama would do such a thing.
"All I know is that he did it. Why would he do it, you know, 90 days, 85 days before the election? I'll let you answer that one."
The Republicans know their plans are so awful that if Americans knew the truth about them, they would run away screaming. Let's do all we can to let people know just what they intend.