I think his opinion is fairly accurate. The GOP platform has increasingly become a fundraising/vote getting press release.
The GOP powerbrokers are in control of the platform, and so long as they continue to take us (and our votes) for granted, it will remain an "inside the Beltway" tool.
Well, that's my take on it, anyway.
The GOP powerbrokers are in control of the platform, and so long as they continue to take us (and our votes) for granted, it will remain an "inside the Beltway" tool. Well, that's my take on it, anyway.
Me, too.
Now, let me whack you with the truth stick. The GOP Platform is written and voted on at the GOP National Convention every 4 years. The platform committee does the writing and revising and approving. Quite often, there's a bit of contention as various factions of delegates at the convention fight over what should be added, deleted, or edited. The delegates are made up of people elected by their state parties to represent the state party members at the convention. I've been a delegate to the Arizona state GOP convention and voted on which delegates to send to the national convention. I was very careful to find out which delegates were pro-life and which were with the Democrats as being pro-abortion. I voted only for pro-life delegates because I knew that some of them were going to craft the GOP platform and all of them were going to vote on it.
So, the truth is that GOP Platform mostly represents the views of the actual grassroots members of the party. The Republican Party executive leadership and a number of the more prominent elected Republicans enjoy ignoring the platform - and therefore the majority of the party - because they don't feel beholden to that platform. It is a severe disconnect in the party that needs to be corrected.