Democrats are considering a party platform that highlights climate change, police brutality, and reparations.
A 15-person committee comprised of presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders allies have drafted an 80-page document detailing what the party broadly stands for as its candidates prepare to take that message to voters in the fall.
The Democrats’ full 180-delegate platform committee will now weigh in on the outline during a virtual meeting on Monday. The party will then ratify it by relying largely on email ballots during the national convention. That gathering is set to take place from Aug. 17-20 in Milwaukee, but it will be conducted mostly online.
The platform emphasizes Democrats’ belief that the country “must ensure real accountability for individual and systemic misconduct in our police departments” and “reimagine policing for the benefit and safety of the American people” after George Floyd’s death underscored the country’s continued problems with racial injustice.
The draft also lays bare Democratic support for a commission studying possible forms of reparations.
“We believe Black lives matter, and will establish a national commission to examine the lasting economic effects of slavery, Jim Crow segregation, and racially discriminatory federal policies on income, wealth, educational, health, and employment outcomes; to pursue truth and promote racial healing; and to study reparations,” the document reads.
Although generally consistent with Biden’s center-left positions, the platform includes overtures to more liberal Democrats. For instance, the draft underlines a preference to create universal healthcare insurance coverage by adding a public option to Obamacare. But it also insists the party “welcomes advocates” of the “Medicare for all” approach.
The platform folds in aspects of Biden’s new $2 trillion climate plan, which calls for the nixing of power plant pollution by 2035 and achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The document, however, is silent regarding fracking. Biden’s proposed public lands fracking and oil drilling ban has rankled some trade unions.
The Democratic National Convention Platform Drafting Committee is chaired by Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who’s a top contender to become Biden’s running mate for the Nov. 3 ticket.
“What I most appreciated about the composition of the platform committee is that there was representation not just from the Biden campaign, but also from Sen. Sanders’ campaign,” she said during a gun control digital event.
She added: “And really, a coming together of so many people who may have supported other candidates, but have all aligned to work to create a platform that really reflects the best of who we are and the policies that reflect what we want across America. And I believe that our platform will do just that.”
Candidates aren’t compelled to agree with their respective party’s platform in its entirely. Rather, they’re essentially guiding mission statements.
While the Democratic draft was compiled after public consultation, Republicans have opted to recycle their 2016 platform instead amid the COVID-19 outbreak. President Trump is expected to supplement the document with a statement of intent ahead of the general election.
