Delegates are gathered in Cleveland this week for the Republican National Convention where they are expected to nominate Donald Trump for president and vote on the official party platform.
While many Republicans have argued that Trump lacks the proper conservative credentials to be the party’s nominee, the GOP platform he will be running on has been called the most conservative in history.
Social conservatives, in particular, wielded a great deal of influence over the platform draft that was approved in committee last week. It encourages teaching the Bible in public schools, declares pornography a “public health crisis,” and contains a number of amendments that are perceived as anti-LGBT, including overturning the Supreme Court decision on marriage.
“The document positions itself far to the right of Mr. Trump’s beliefs … and amounts to a rightward lurch even from the party’s hard-line platform in 2012 — especially as it addresses gay men, lesbians and transgender people,” the New York Times reported.
Trump’s influence on the platform is evidenced in the parts that call to “destroy ISIS,” and build a wall along the United States border with Mexico.
Based on this platform, it appears that the Republican Party has failed to take its own advice.
After Mitt Romney’s defeat in 2012, the Republican National Committee produced an autopsy report that concluded the party would need to reach out to minorities, women, and young people in order to stand a chance in 2016.
But now, mere months from the election, many women, Hispanics, and millennials feel more alienated from the Republican Party than ever before.
Trump currently has support from just 14 percent of Hispanics, while Romney won 27 percent of Hispanic voters.
A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll found an astonishing 77 percent of women have a negative view of Trump.
Although Trump is unpopular among millennials as well, one thing he seems to have going for him with young voters is that he is not a social conservative, and possibly the most pro-gay presidential nominee Republicans have ever had.
But, while Trump has spoken in favor of LGBT rights, the platform committee staunchly refused to include any amendments that would move the party towards a more moderate stance on this issue.
33-year-old Rachel Hoff, who also happens to be the first openly gay member of the committee, said the platform is a marketing opportunity for the party, and she is concerned that young people, who overwhelming support same sex marriage, will be more turned off from the GOP when they see what’s in it.
“We’re giving people who support LGBT rights a reason not to even consider voting for us because especially for young people this issue is a deal-breaker,” Hoff said in an interview with Quartz.
College Republican National Committee (CRNC) President Alex Smith had a different opinion.
She described the platform as a “formality,” developed by a relatively narrow group of people, that won’t have a great effect on the general public.
Smith said young Republicans are paying close attention to what their leaders are saying, rather than what the platform says.
“[The platform] is a formality in a lot of ways,” Smith said. “I’m looking more to see the progress that our senate leaders are making in Washington. I’m looking at Speaker Ryan’s agenda … and what policies Trump will lay out at the convention.”
The convention will focus on a different theme each day this week, beginning with today’s discussion of foreign policy, and moving on to jobs, leadership, how to unify the country, and “Make America Great Again.”
