A tale of two party platforms—a choice of the future or the past
"It's often said that party platforms don't matter, that nobody reads them and after they are approved every four years at the national conventions, everybody ignores them. While probably not more than one in 100 Americans can explain the details of each party's platform, and while the implicit promises within them are often broken or take years if not decades to come true, they aren't mere textual kabuki. They do indicate a path, a direction. And set against each other, some of the differences can be stark."
