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Conservatives Grumble on Planks Reflecting Bush AgendaBy DAVID D. KIRKPATRICKPublished: August 26, 2004 aylong negotiations between representatives of the Bush campaign and conservative Republicans to forestall challenges to planks of the party platform that back President Bush's positions on stem cell research and immigration fell through last night, leading to an unexpected debate in the platform committee, two people involved in the talks said.The debate, though brief, was a sharp contrast with the carefully choreographed displays of unity at the Democratic Party platform hearing or at the Republican subcommittees earlier in the day.With an impassioned plea to protect what one...

Republicans will try to project a moderate image at their national convention next week through prime-time speakers such as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (news - web sites) and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani. But the platform on which GOP candidates will run this fall is shaping up to look decidedly conservative, reflecting the views of President Bush (news - web sites) and the party's base. Efforts to insert more moderate language on controversial issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage into the 95-page statement of party principles begin Wednesday when the Republican Platform Committee opens two days of hearings...

NEW YORK - Republicans endorsed an uncompromising position against gay unions in a manifesto that contrasts with Vice President Dick Cheney's supportive comments about gay rights and the moderate face the party will show at next week's national convention. A panel made up largely of conservative delegates on Wednesday approved platform language that calls for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and opposes legal recognition of any sort for gay civil unions. The party's full platform committee, seeking to appease party members who support gay or abortion rights without embracing their positions, adopted language later that states Republicans "respect and...

NEW YORK — The Republican Party platform draft strongly supports President Bush's "guest worker" plan that critics within the party say amounts to amnesty for illegal aliens, The Washington Times has learned. The draft will be debated here this morning, several days before the opening of the Republican National Convention, by 26 handpicked members of the Republican National Convention subcommittee that deals with immigration, led by Pennsylvania Rep. Melissa A. Hart. The draft's immigration section, titled "Supporting Humane and Legal Immigration," backs the president's case for giving some illegal aliens temporary legal status under a guest-worker program, a position vehemently...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (JTA) — Republicans promise that a substantive, tough party platform this year will present Jewish voters with a sharp contrast from the relatively scrawny Democratic document — but they may find that delving into details could prove devilish. The Bush campaign is emphasizing its adherence to old-fashioned platform-writing techniques, going into particulars yet leaving open an element of surprise by allowing a platform committee to hash through the proposed document on the eve of the convention next week. That means the platform is more likely to approach the 100-some pages of the GOP’s 2000 version than the...

PASADENA, Md., Aug. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement is by Constitution Party Presidential candidate Michael Anthony Peroutka whose running mate is Dr. Chuck Baldwin from Pensacola, Florida. Interesting story in the "Washington Times" (8/23/04) headlined: "GOP To Finesse Immigration Issue" -- the applicable definition of "finesse" here being, in this context, to trick or use fraud. Or, some might say, to lie. So, about what, exactly, is it the GOP is going to use trickery or fraud or lies, to deceive us? Illegal immigration. This story, based on an interview with Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), Chairman of the Republican...

Workman-like Platform Lacks Unifying Philosophical Principle by Richard Lessner - Executive Director, ACU NEW YORK – Late yesterday, the American Conservative Union obtained an advanced copy of the 2004 draft Republican Platform. ACU's staff has reviewed and analyzed the draft document, which delegate members of the GOP platform committee will begin the process of amending today. Like most such party documents, the draft GOP platform is a workman-like recitation of the incumbent President George W. Bush's first-term accomplishments. It reads much like a campaign ad, which is essentially what it is. What the draft platform lacks in inspiring rhetoric or...

NEW YORK – Late yesterday, the American Conservative Union obtained an advanced copy of the 2004 draft Republican Platform. ACU's staff has reviewed and analyzed the draft document, which delegate members of the GOP platform committee will begin the process of amending today. Like most such party documents, the draft GOP platform is a workman-like recitation of the incumbent President George W. Bush's first-term accomplishments. It reads much like a campaign ad, which is essentially what it is. What the draft platform lacks in inspiring rhetoric or soaring imagery, it makes up in length. At 90 pages, almost half of...

NEW YORK (AP) — Republicans call for a constitutional ban on gay marriage in a proposed election platform headed for a feisty debate in the days before their national convention.If the plank is approved as expected, it would mark the first time the GOP has gone on record in its statement of principles as supporting an amendment against gay marriage. The issue opens a new point of contention between the party's social conservatives and moderates in platform hearings, who typically tangle over abortion rights each presidential election season. A draft of the platform was shown to delegates Tuesday night on...

A draft Republican Party platform distributed last night to delegates takes conservative stands on several social issues that sometimes divide the party, including abortion, stem-cell research and a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. But it also supports the expansion of legal immigration, a position that is already drawing opposition from some in the party's conservative base.Roughly half of this year's Republican platform is devoted to foreign policy and national security. "President Bush has confronted unprecedented challenges, including a world scarred by terrorism," its preamble begins. "The president's leadership has achieved successes once deemed impossible to realize in so short...

ALERT: Well, the Republican Party is asking for input from you and I to help set the party's agenda. That's right, it's time once again to write the GOP Platform -- the foundational document that declares to the world, "THIS is what Republicans stand for!" This is also where the "trench warfare" takes place every four years, between the conservative base of the party, and the "big tent" of liberals, neocons, and good ol' "RINOs" - Republicans In Name Only. If you've never experienced the passion and determination of our conservative warriors on the front line of this ideological warfare,...

...Sources say that in recent weeks, word has gone out from Karl Rove's office that Republican congressional candidates who fail to "stay away" from the issue of illegal immigration risk losing the financial support of their national party... One person with knowledge of the process says national party leaders and campaign officials vetted every delegate to the GOP convention to ensure support for an illegal alien amnesty eagerly sought by corporate lobbyists in Washington...

The Republican Party's platform will oppose amnesty for illegal aliens, predicts Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, the platform committee chairman."I believe it likely there will be a strong statement against amnesty," the Tennessee Republican said in an interview with The Washington Times.President Bush's "guest-worker" proposal for dealing with illegal immigration, which he outlined in a White House speech in January, includes a limited, three-year amnesty for qualified illegal aliens holding jobs in the United States.The plan has deeply angered many Republicans, who say it is meant to pander to the growing Hispanic vote, and they blame the idea on Bush...

New York, NY (LifeNews.com) -- In addition to their efforts to overturn the Republican Party's pro-life position on abortion and to include a unity plank into the platform, leading abortion advocates are planning to hold their largest fundraiser ever. The shindig will receive support from some key Republican notables. Jennifer Blei Stockman, co-chairman of the Republican Majority for Choice, a pro-abortion political action committee, says her group will hold its biggest fundraising effort on the second night of the convention at a club in New York City. Stockman told the Greenwich Time newspaper that she expects 450 people to attend,...

This ConservativePetitions.com Alert is a special message from RightMarch.com for [Tolerance Sucks Rocks]: ALERT: Well, the Republican Party is asking for input from you and I to help set the party's agenda. That's right, it's time once again to write the GOP Platform -- the foundational document that declares to the world, "THIS is what Republicans stand for!" This is also where the "trench warfare" takes place every four years, between the conservative base of the party, and the "big tent" of liberals, neocons, and good ol' "RINOs" - Republicans In Name Only. If you've never experienced the passion and...

New York, NY (LifeNews.com) -- The Republican Party platform has taken a pro-life position on abortion since 1976, during the first GOP convention following the Roe v. Wade decision. With the selection of Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour to craft that aspect of the platform, the position likely won't change. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, who is pro-life, was selected by the party to be the chairman of the platform committee. He, in turn, chose Barbour, a former party chairman, to direct the "Protecting Our Families" subcommittee charged with the task of crafting the anti-abortion language. When Barbour was...

Barbour to shape abortion platform See Post # 1 for link

(CNSNews.com) - A coalition of self-described "mainstream Republicans" is insisting that unless President Bush and the 2004 GOP presidential platform appeal to more than just the "far right," Democrats will re-take the White House. The coalition, comprised of the Log Cabin Republicans, Republicans for Choice political action committee and Republican Youth Majority, introduced its "Party Unity" plank this week at a Washington, D.C., news conference. "We recognize and respect that Republicans of good faith may not agree with all the planks in the party's platform. This is particularly the case with regard to those planks dealing with abortion, family planning,...

The Washington Times www.washingtontimes.com Conservative gets immigration plankBy Ralph Z. HallowTHE WASHINGTON TIMESPublished August 15, 2004 Pennsylvania Rep. Melissa A. Hart will lead the Republican Party platform subcommittee that will tackle politically sensitive immigration issues, The Washington Times has learned.     The Hart appointment comes amid growing complaints among many in the Republican Party that President Bush's proposed immigration plan would reward illegal aliens in the hope of getting more Hispanics votes for him in November.     Mrs. Hart is known among colleagues for her tough stance on immigration issues.     The platform -- a statement of principles nonbinding to the party's...

With the Republican National Convention's platform committee convening in New York less than three weeks from now, no draft platform exists, no subcommittees have been named, and no special lodging for committee members has been assigned. Rather than signifying sudden collapse of accustomed Republican efficiency, all this looks more like a coolly calculated plan. The suspicion has grown that President Bush's re-election strategists--Karl Rove and Karen Hughes--do not want the open debate over principles and policy that has characterized Republican platform-making for a generation. The carefully guarded Bush campaign game plan is to present delegates on the platform committee with...