The potently polarizing personalities of the two major presidential candidates make it easy to forget that we are not electing a monarch, and instead choosing a representative from the two political parties to lead the nation.
While party platforms aren't binding on candidates, those documents spell out the ideological, philosophical and policy objectives of each party. They contain a multitude more of specific information than you'll ever glean listening to a modern televised debate.
So when you pick a president, in the party's view, you're also picking a platform. Whoever the winning candidate is, when the election dust has settled, that party (and its clearly stated platform) will claim a mandate and try and settle into the country's driver seat.
Sadly, while 70-80 million people may watch the presidential candidates hurl accusations and insults from opposing podiums on TV, perhaps no more than 70,000-80,000 actually read the party platforms. Indeed, some lawmakers and even candidates themselves don't read them (see Bob Dole, 1996).
But platforms do influence political performance. As one political scientist found after comparing direct promises in party platforms with congressional votes from 1980 to 2004, legislators' votes were in line with their platforms 82 percent of the time.
As road maps that itemize the key ideas, beliefs and promises of each political party, the 2016 platforms deserve at least a cursory comparison. Each is basically a short novella; the Republican platform comprises 66 pages, the Democratic 55 pages. Both begin with a preamble, which is basically a summary introduction featuring the respective party themes ("Make America Great Again" and "We Are Stronger Together") to the topics and issues listed in the tables of contents.
Searching keywords through both platforms offers up some immediate clues to party perspective. For example, the word "Constitution" and its derivatives such as "constitutional" or "constitutionally" are used in the Republican platform 80 times, and the Declaration of Independence is referenced six times. Conversely, "Constitution" is mentioned only seven times in the Democratic platform, and the Declaration is absent altogether.
"Amendment" is used in singular or plural form 46 times by Republicans, including five specific references to the Second Amendment. Democrats use the word in five instances, none of which refer to any of the Bill of Rights.
The terms "limited government" and "tyranny" appear two and five times, respectively, in the Republican platform but not at all in the Democratic. "Liberty" is a favorite of Republicans, who inserted it 24 times in their platform. It is found three times in the Democratic platform, and one of those is about the Statue.
Only the Republican platform mentions the word "Founders" or "Framers," and the GOP peppers the names of Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton and Washington in its document. About the only proper name mentioned in the Democratic platform is "Trump," which occurs a total of 32 times. The Republican platform mentions Hillary Clinton once.
Both parties are fond of the word "rights;" it graces the Republican platform in 85 instances and the Democratic in 79. Neither is much impressed with the word "responsibilities," which finds its way into both platforms a total of only five times (twice in Republican, thrice in Democratic).
The Republican platform contains 21 uses of the word "regulatory," and it is regularly followed by other words such as burdens, harassment, nightmare, barriers, overreach and reform. The Democratic platform avoids the word almost entirely. It shows up only twice, one of which as being the proper name of the Postal Regulatory Commission.
"Racism" is mentioned only once by Republicans, but seven times by Democrats, and four of those times it's preceded by the word systemic. The word "crime" is used in a domestic, traditional sense 13 times in the Republican platform versus four times by Democrats. Only Republicans mention "violent crime," but Democrats use the word "violence" eight times more often (24 times versus three times).
"Nuclear" is a high-volume word in both platforms, though its usage varies dramatically by party. Democrats use the word 31 times, exclusively in regards to weaponry. Of the 21 times Republicans used the word, eight refer to power or energy development.
The two candidates get asked a lot of direct questions in the debates, and often wind up wandering away from detailed answers.
Not so in the platforms. You can read the specifics about immigration, taxation, education and more.
Some divisions are obvious and expected--Democrats would abolish capital punishment, Republicans respect its existence by reference in the Fifth Amendment--but others are much more nuanced and subtle.
Democrats play down the judiciary, refusing to even use the word, and promise to appoint judges who defend constitutional principles, rather than the Constitution itself, and who will specifically "curb billionaires' influence over elections."
Republicans specify a respect for the rule of law and Article 1 separation of powers as reigning criteria for judicial appointments.
Both parties recognize a broken immigration system, but the angle of approach on solutions diverges substantially.
Presidential elections only happen quadrennially. Suggestions like this may fall on deaf ears, but I'm still an optimistic advocate: Read before you vote.
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Dana D. Kelley is a freelance writer from Jonesboro.
Editorial on 10/21/2016