At a typical Republican convention, the presidential nominee is largely settled while some important parts of the platform could still remain in flux. Might it be the other way around this year in Cleveland?
The biggest points of contention may not be over the platform, but rather whether Republicans resistant to Donald Trump will succeed in unbinding the delegates or what kind of display they will put on at the convention even if they fail.
There had been several possible points of contention between Trump and past Republican platforms. The celebrity businessman is as heterodox a Republican as he is an unconventional presidential candidate.
He has called the Iraq War, waged by the last GOP president, a “disaster” based on lies. He straightforwardly opposes entitlement reforms like those advocated by House Speaker Paul Ryan. An unabashed nationalist, he is a protectionist on trade while steering clear of libertarian economics in general.
Yet Trump hasn’t exactly ripped up the Republican blueprint. “He has really not tried to influence the direction of this platform. He has been receptive and I’ve asked him to embrace the platform that comes out from this grassroots approach,” Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told the Washington Examiner‘s David M. Drucker. “I believe that he will.”
Trump has indisputably moved to the right on social issues, but some social conservatives are still skeptical of his overtures. He has switched from pro-choice to pro-life, but has been hazy about the details. He has been more aggressive in his gay outreach than any previous GOP presidential candidate without affirming same-sex marriage.
When an openly gay delegate serving on the platform committee sought a provision recognizing different views exist within the party on the issue of same-sex marriage, she was defeated (although not as overwhelmingly as would have been the case even eight years ago). Pro-lifers have rebuffed similar “tolerance clauses” on abortion in recent years.
In April, Trump told NBC he would change the Republican platform’s pro-life plank to expressly include exceptions for rape, incest and when the mother’s life is danger. “Yes, I would. Yes, I would. Absolutely,” Trump said. “For the three exceptions, I would.”
The GOP platform has never specifically carved out those three exceptions, even though every Republican presidential nominee since at least 1988 favored them and Ronald Reagan was open to them. The platform’s abortion section hasn’t been revised along those lines at this writing.
Language discussed by the platform committee opposing co-habitation and no-fault divorce was undoubtedly to the right of the thrice-married Trump’s personal preferences. He didn’t interfere.
Immigration and trade are areas where there could still be some debate. Trump is committed to the tough immigration enforcement sought by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and has at times expressed support for the lower levels of legal immigration endorsed by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., an early supporter and influence on the candidate.
Supportive references to the Trans-Pacific Partnership have been deleted in deference to Trump’s staunch opposition to the deal. Trump has called for curbing Muslim immigration in some form, although the details have varied. “This is not conservatism,” Ryan argued, but the ban regularly received better than 60 percent support among Republican primary voters in the exit polls in a wide variety of states.
The platform is a test of whether Trump and Republican regulars can work together ahead of the fall fight against Hillary Clinton. It’s one his supporters are determined to pass.
