TAMPA — A strongly-worded platform approved last week by the Republican National Convention (RNC) would ban federal recognition of marriage equality through a constitutional amendment, along with outlawing all abortions and changing the nature of delivery of Medicare benefits. With a warning that the “American Dream is at risk,” the platform opens with a pledge that a Republican Party in power will “begin anew, with profound changes in the way government operates; the way it budgets, taxes and regulates.”
“This ambitious blueprint projects a sea change in the way that government works,” said Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-Virginia), chairman of the RNC platform committee. “It offers a solution for workers without jobs, families without savings, and neighborhoods without hope.”
In spite of the efforts of gay delegates, including Log Cabin Republicans, and libertarian-leaning members (Ron Paul supporters among them), the RNC platform champions the rights of states and the federal government not to recognize gay marriage, and calls for a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a prominent Hispanic Democrat, called parts of the platform “draconian” and “extreme,” and said of Romney, “What you have seen from him is that he does one thing, he says another.”
