Dems Draft Centrist Party Platform

W A S H I N G T O N, July 7 -- — Most American voters will never read the Democratic party platform before Election Day, but party officials drafting the campaign-year document are making sure it is precisely what Al Gore would want to stand on if he’s elected president.

A new draft of the 2000 party platform was unveiled today by the team of Democrats delegated to put into black and white the issues and philosophy that Gore has taken on the road during his campaign.

Entitled “Bringing America Into the 21st Century,” the 40-page document begins by bragging about the good economy, then it declares, “Ours is a record to build on, not to rest on.”

Like all party platforms, the policy paper has to appeal to the broad middle of the party, without rankling hard-liners on either end of the political spectrum. It was immediately hailed as a “solid, centrist document” by Al From, president of the Democratic Leadership Council, a middle of the road political organization with strong links to Gore.

Democrats held an open public hearing in St. Louis on the eve of the document’s release — a long day of testimony that accomplished just what campaign officials had hoped: party unity on fundamental principles. From education to the environment, from gun controls to high technology, the platform weaves together all the issues Gore has been raising with voters.

Rankling Unions

It is inevitable, however, that some Democrats will be a little uneasy with the hot button issue of trade. As vice president and as a candidate, Gore has expressed support for open markets and trade with China, bucking his followers in organized labor who fear that American jobs will be lost overseas.

At the public hearing, national director Amy Isaacs of the liberal group Americans for Democratic Action warned that trade with China is “a step in the wrong direction.” Isaacs went on to say that “liberals in the country are very uneasy” with the political direction the country is heading.