The platform released by the Democratic Party on Sunday highlights President Joe Biden’s “economic vision” — because it was approved before his re-election bid ended.
It was just the latest bizarre phenomenon in an election that has already seen a failed debate, an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, a vigorous pressure campaign, the candidate’s stunning withdrawal and even the president losing a primary in American Samoa.
“We are delivering on President Biden’s promise to rebuild our economy from the inside out and from the bottom up, not from the top down,” it said.
The party calls the election “a choice between two very different economic visions for America: Donald Trump, who sees the world from his country club at Mar-a-Lago, and Joe Biden, who sees the world from the kitchen table in Scranton he grew up on.”
Those were just a few of the dozens of times Biden (81) was mentioned. He ended his campaign after a number of elected lawmakers and party officials urged him to end his campaign against Trump (78).
“In President Biden’s second term, he will continue to select justices who protect fundamental rights and represent the diversity of the American experience. We will push for a Supreme Court that follows the rule of law, protects people’s freedoms, and holds themselves to the highest ethical standards,” the platform reads in a section that is clearly outdated.
It’s now Vice President Kamala Harris’ convention, but the party platform repeatedly mentions President Joe Biden
Donald Trump is also mentioned more than 100 times. Vice President Kamala Harris, who has rallied the party after winning Biden’s endorsement, is mentioned. “President Biden, Vice President Harris, Democrats are on board to get the job done.” It was approved by the party’s Platform Committee on July 16, less than a week before Biden stepped down, a stunning example of the pace of the turnaround.
Now it will serve as an overall governance plan for Harris, who has thus far presented her own policy proposals and declined interview requests.
This includes her campaign calling for a top tax inspector for companiese of 28 percent – in line with President Biden’s fiscal year 2025 budget plan.
Other economic proposals in the platform include a $15 federal minimum wage and a $10,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers.
High on the stage is a statement about the Chicago region where the conference is being held.
Biden will address the convention and leave town, but the platform he is named on will remain
“As we meet in Chicago, we also recognize and honor the traditional homelands of the Anishinaabe, also known as the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations,” it reads. “We acknowledge the many other tribes who call this area their traditional homeland, including the Myaamia, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac and Fox, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, Kickapoo, and Mascouten.”
“Over the past two years, more than 20 states have passed extreme and dangerous abortion bans — many of which contain no exceptions, even for rape or incest — that endanger women’s health and lives, force women to travel hundreds of miles for care, and threaten to criminalize doctors for providing the health care their patients need and are trained to provide,” a section on abortion reads.
One paragraph hammers home Trump’s denial of the results of the 2020 election, which Biden won. It’s something Harris doesn’t emphasize as much at her rallies as Biden does.
“Trump refuses to defend the core principles of our democracy: the Constitution, the rule of law, our system of checks and balances. He continues to refuse to accept the simple truth, confirmed by dozens of courts, that he lost in 2020, even describing himself as a ‘proud election denier’ — and he has never agreed to accept this year’s results. After years of undermining public confidence in our elections, he has warned of a ‘bloodbath’ if he loses now,” the platform reads.
“He glorifies the convicted criminals who attacked our Capitol on January 6 and the brave police, calling those insurrectionists ‘patriots’ and ‘hostages,’ while promising to pardon them.”