What are the U.S. Democratic Party Platform and the Democratic Party Platform?

Before the U.S. presidential election, both parties will hold national conventions to hear and adopt the party platform drafted by the platform drafting committee to build momentum for election propaganda. The most recent one was in 2004.

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2004 "The United States Democratic Party Platform": Stronger at Home, Respected in the World

The 2004 Democratic Party Platform: Stronger at Home, Respected in the World

For the full text and description, please open the link to the official website below:

/chinese/2004/Jul/623063.htm

The 2004 "United States Democratic Party Platform" (hereinafter referred to as the Party Platform) is the first comprehensive and systematic development of the Democratic Party after the "9?11" incident. Elaborate on the party’s views on foreign affairs, security, economy, internal affairs and many other aspects. In addition to the introduction, the party platform is divided into four parts:

1. Building a “strong and respected America”

As far as election issues are concerned, the 2004 US election and A significant difference compared with the previous general elections is that diplomacy and national security have become the top priorities of voters for the first time. The tragedy of the "9-11" incident shocked the hearts of Americans; from the collapse of the World Trade Center, Americans intuitively realized that in the era of "Al Qaeda" raging, the United States was no longer a "mainland island" with peace of mind. The primary target of terrorism; also recognizes that U.S. homeland security is closely linked to its foreign policy. With the changes in the American people's security views and the emphasis on foreign policy, the confrontation between the two parties on foreign affairs and national security policy has become one of the key factors in who can win the White House. The party platform fully reflects the Democratic Party's emphasis on foreign and national security policies. The explanation of foreign and security policies takes up 13 pages of the 37-page party platform.

The party platform first lashed out at the Bush administration’s foreign policy since 9/11, arguing that the Bush administration’s unilateralist style deviated from the United States’ 100-year history of “leadership” through “building a strong alliance.” tradition of multilateralism, while its "engagement policy that compromises with principles" betrays the values ??of American democracy; it accuses the Bush administration of hastily launching the Iraq war without winning full support from the international community, and exaggerating the relationship between "Al Qaeda" and Iraq Contact with President Saddam Hussein, exaggerating the evidence that Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction; believing that the Bush administration did not send enough soldiers to Iraq and did not formulate a plan to "win peace."

On this basis, the party platform launched the Democratic Party’s foreign and national security propositions, which are to focus on building a “strong and respected United States”; and pointed out that the Democratic Party will proceed from the following six aspects if elected:

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First, by “improving the ability of intelligence agencies to detect and stop terrorists,” “cutting off financial funding for terrorist organizations,” and “preventing Afghanistan and other countries from becoming hotbeds of terrorism,” and ultimately “defeating terrorism".

Second, "prevent weapons of mass destruction from falling into the hands of terrorists."

Third, "advance democracy, peace and security" on a global scale. It hinted that the Democratic Party would support the continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq to prevent Iraq from becoming "a haven for terrorists and a destabilizing force in the Middle East."

Fourth, "strengthen the military capabilities of the United States." It was specifically pointed out that after the Democratic Party is elected, it will expand the recruitment of 40,000 soldiers "to maintain our overseas deployment, prevent and prepare for other possible conflicts.", and at the same time "enhance the combat capabilities of the US military's special forces."

Fifth, "realize independent supply of energy."

The Democratic Party believes that dependence on Middle East oil is the main reason why successive U.S. governments have tolerated authoritarian countries in the Middle East represented by Saudi Arabia. To change this situation and ensure U.S. energy security, the United States should "research and develop renewable energy" and "make full use of electric energy." and other ways to ensure the self-sufficiency of its domestic energy supply.

Sixth, "strengthening homeland security." Advocates for the establishment of "a truly top national intelligence agency to control all U.S. intelligence personnel and intelligence budgets."

2. Restore "a strong and prosperous U.S. economy"

If Kerry and Bush are still indistinguishable in the fields of diplomacy and security, then the situation is clear in terms of the economy. Many, the latest "Washington Post" poll in July showed that Kerry had a 6-point lead over Bush in this regard. In order to consolidate the Democratic Party's economic electoral advantage, the party platform launched the Democratic Party's economic platform aimed at restoring a "strong and thriving American economy."

The platform believes that the key to restoring "American economic vitality" is to "create good jobs" and "support the interests of the middle class." Based on this, the United States should focus on the following points: First, support free and fair global trade. Second, carry out corporate tax reform: Companies that move jobs overseas will no longer enjoy tax benefits, while companies that create jobs in the United States will enjoy tax cuts. Third, formulate and implement plans to revitalize the manufacturing industry. Fourth, encourage the development of small and medium-sized businesses. Fifth, increase investment in high-tech fields to create more job opportunities. Sixth, cancel the tax cuts implemented by the Bush administration for Americans with an annual income of more than $200,000. Seventh, support raising the minimum wage from the current US$5.15 per hour to US$7 per hour and canceling the Bush administration's restrictions on overtime pay recipients.

3. Maintain "the vitality and health of American families"

Since taking office, Bush has implemented a "laissez-faire" social security policy, advocating the privatization of the pension security system and medical security, and reducing The federal government funds children's medical care and has no control over the rise in drug prices. This has caused the basic living costs of ordinary American families to increase day by day, and also triggered their strong dissatisfaction with the Bush administration, and they have come to believe that "if Kerry comes to power, our lives will be better." This sentiment is directly reflected in polling data. According to the latest "Washington Post" poll in July, Kerry leads Bush by 10 percentage points in social security. In order to stabilize the Democratic Party's election in this regard, the Democratic Party has proposed social security policies aimed at keeping "the vitality and health of American families". The key points are:

First, expand the coverage of health care plans , allowing more children and low-income adults to benefit and supporting Kerry’s proposal that “catastrophic” cases be paid for by the government.

Second, we oppose the privatization of the social security system and the increase in the withdrawal age for retirement benefits, and advocate that the federal government should once again assume "fiscal responsibility" for this plan.

Third, they oppose the privatization of the elderly care medical system and claim that the Bush administration's prescription drug plan benefits pharmaceutical companies rather than the elderly. The Democratic Party vows to reduce drug costs.

Fourth, introduce a "Patient Bill of Rights" to protect members of health care organizations.

Fifth, commit to establishing secure and reliable private electronic medical records for all Americans by 2008.

Sixth, remove the restrictions imposed by the Bush administration on government funding of stem cell research. Allows "safe" reimportation of prescription drugs from other countries. In addition, in terms of education, the new party platform accuses the Bush administration of not fully implementing the No Child Left Behind Act; it states that the Democratic Party will invest more resources in school districts and reduce taxes to reduce the cost of college education.

4. Creating a “Vibrant American Society”

This part of the party platform touches on extremely sensitive American social issues such as civil liberties, immigration, abortion, and homosexuality.

The party platform follows the liberal tradition of the Democratic Party. On civil liberties, it supports the "USA Patriot Act" but recommends amending the bill to "better protect the privacy and freedom of law-abiding Americans"; on immigration issues, it supports giving Those illegal immigrants in the United States who pass background checks are granted citizenship. On the issue of whether gays can get married, which has been a hot topic recently, the party opposes the Bush administration's move to amend the constitution to ban same-sex marriage, and believes that how to define marriage should be decided by the states. At the same time, the party platform also believes that citizens have the freedom to choose abortion.

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2004 "American Republican Party Platform": A Safer World, a More Hopeful America

2004 Republican Party Platform: A Safer World and a More Hopeful America

Full text and description Please open the link to the official website below:

/chinese/2004/Sep/652136.htm

This 94-page party platform was formulated by *** and the party in November 2004. Before the election on November 2, Bush will comprehensively and systematically launch a campaign platform for voters on his policy propositions in security, foreign affairs, economy, domestic affairs and other aspects. Compared with the 37-page party platform adopted by the Democratic Party a month ago, it is more detailed and systematic. Different from the situation four years ago, when domestic issues dominated and national security and diplomatic issues were brushed aside, the 2004 party platform greatly increased the space occupied by counter-terrorism, security and diplomatic issues. Judging from the content, most of the policies listed in the new party platform repeat Bush's consistent basic positions and principles and support Bush's campaign propaganda. At the same time, from some subtle changes and adjustments in focus, we can also understand the policy tone that Bush has set for his future administration.

Except for the "Foreword and Introduction" at the beginning and the "Summary and Appeal" at the end, the entire party platform *** includes "winning the war on terrorism", "creating an era of ownership", and "building innovative global competition" Economy", "Strengthening our society" and "Protecting our home".

1. Promote Bush’s achievements: counter-terrorism, security and diplomacy.

As a "wartime president" who was "blessed" by the disaster of "9?11", counter-terrorism is not only the top priority of his administration, but also the central issue and promotion in his re-election campaign. The basis of support. Faced with accusations from the Democratic Party that it mistakenly launched the Iraq War and misled the American people into fighting a war on terror with no end in sight, the party platform used nearly 40 pages of its first part, "Winning the War on Terrorism," to write down the Bush administration for more than three years. He praised Bush's achievements in the war on terrorism in the past and praised the correctness of Bush's counter-terrorism policies and Bush's trustworthiness. The party platform not only supports Bush's "preemptive" strike against terrorism and believes that no international organization can replace the leadership of the United States, but also explains Bush's launch of the Iraq war, claiming that through the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the United States has not only made the world "safer" ” and become “better”.

First of all, the party platform elaborates on Bush’s comprehensive strategy of “winning the war on terror, promoting peace, and building a better world.” It believes that “terrorists made war on the United States a long time ago, and now the United States is turning on terrorism. "Declaring war on doctrine," stating that "the United States will fight its enemies to safeguard peace." At the same time, he strongly defended Bush's decision to invade Iraq, believing that "even if Iraq's weapons of mass destruction failed to be found, Saddam had the power to manufacture such weapons." ability and desire”.

Second, vowed to consolidate the results of the war on terrorism. The party platform calls Iraq one of Bush's most significant achievements and promotes the Middle Eastern country as "a model for reform in the region."

In response to Democratic presidential candidate Kerry's pledge to "deploy more foreign troops to rapidly reduce the U.S. military presence in Iraq," the party platform made tit-for-tat promises that the U.S. will complete its mission in Iraq and will not reduce its troops stationed there or flee from Iraq. .

In addition, the party platform also discusses counter-terrorism in detail from the aspects of preventing the proliferation of large-scale weapons, strengthening alliances to win the war on terrorism, strengthening the US national security agencies, supporting the US military, and stabilizing the US's leadership position in the world. measures. For example, further implement biological weapons defense strategies to enhance the ability to withstand biological weapons attacks; strengthen national border control to prevent illegal entry with the help of better tools, technology and sufficient power; establish minimum minimum requirements in important infrastructure (such as chemical plants) Security requirements; improve the quality and quantity of intelligence collection, increase investment in technology, etc.

It is particularly important to mention that in the second half of this part, the party platform elaborates on the Bush administration’s foreign policy in the context of counter-terrorism, including policies toward allies, peripheral policies, African policies, etc. For example, the party platform mentioned the importance of U.S.-Japan relations, the expectation for a new type of U.S.-India relations, and also praised the relations between the United States, Britain, and the United States and Australia, and said that the Bush administration and Russia are developing a new type of relationship; in the Middle East, the United States will Strong support for Israel and more. Among them, the party platform expresses its goodwill hope to "seek to establish a constructive relationship with China under the leadership of President Bush." ??Therefore, China policy has also received widespread attention from all parties.

According to the latest opinion poll released by the US "Washington Post" on the 31st, as the President and the party launch a propaganda offensive, Bush has tightened the relationship with Kerry on the issues of national security and leadership in the war on terrorism. gap in support. On the Iraq issue, Bush's approval rating rose from 46% at the beginning of the month to 52%, while Kerry dropped from 48% to 44%; on counterterrorism, Bush's approval rating rose from 48% at the beginning of the month to 56%, while Kerry's approval rating dropped from 48% to 44%. dropped from 45% to 38%. It seems that the Communist Party of China and the Communist Party of China devoted nearly one-third of their platform to anti-terrorism and diplomatic issues, promising that "the United States will lead the global anti-terrorism coalition and pursue the remaining terrorists hiding everywhere." Obviously, The drunkard's intention is not to drink.

2. Highlight conservative characteristics: economy, unity and family.

Regarding security and counter-terrorism issues, although Bush regards "fighting the economy" as his core task, his performance in domestic affairs and economy is indeed lackluster: the government budget deficit has expanded to a record high of more than 400 billion US dollars. Oil prices, which are related to the vital interests of the people, continue to soar, the number of poor people continues to increase, and the unemployment rate remains high. According to polling data provided by the US "Business Week", the American public's approval rating of Bush's economic performance in the past four years is mostly below 50. At the same time, on domestic issues such as budget deficit, taxes, health care, immigration and education, more than half of voters believe that the Democratic Party will do a better job. In order to change voters' attitudes, the party platform devoted most of its space to comprehensively expounding Bush's economic and social policy propositions in five chapters, including "Creating an Era of Ownership" and "Building an Innovative Global Competitive Economy", hoping to use *** and the core of the party policy ideas to unite voters.

First, in the section "Creating an Era of Ownership," the party platform details increasing savings, strengthening a more autonomous social security system, expanding home ownership, supporting small businesses, establishing health care savings accounts and protecting Policy propositions and specific measures such as private property rights, in order to establish Bush's image of caring about people's well-being.

Secondly, in the section of "Building an innovative global competitive economy", the party platform proposes to support individual entrepreneurship to increase employment opportunities, improve community construction to create a good growth environment for children, and strengthen the global competition of the U.S. economy. Power etc. The party platform first discusses the tax reduction policies and measures of the Bush administration. After taking office, Bush resolutely pursued economic policies with tax cuts as the core, and passed three legislations to achieve the goal of tax cuts of more than 1.6 trillion US dollars in order to reward core voters and stimulate economic recovery. However, after January 2005, some tax cuts gradually expired, and Democrats such as Kerry continued to call for the repeal of tax cuts that favored the wealthy.

As the economic index slowly rebounds, Bush is determined to make the tax cut policy permanent, becoming a political legacy he contributes to the United States and providing "reassurance" to the beneficiaries of the tax cut. The party platform embodies Bush's concept and introduces various measures to deepen tax reduction policies in the future. For example, promote private investment programs; extend tax breaks to insurance premiums related to medical savings accounts; prevent household tax increases, make the 2001 and 2003 tax breaks permanent, simplify tax regulations; limit government Expenditure; implement fundamental reforms to make the national railway passenger transportation companies self-sufficient, etc.

The party platform also promises to work hard to formulate an energy policy that is conducive to increasing production and promoting conservation, which not only takes into account the interests of oil and gas groups, but also takes into account the appeals of environmental groups. For example, the party platform supports removing unnecessary barriers to domestic natural gas production and supporting the establishment of a national Arctic wildlife refuge.

In addition, in terms of education, the party platform inherited Bush's advocacy in January's "State of the Union Address" and promised to reform middle school and early education and continue to strengthen primary school work in accordance with the "No Child Left Behind Act"; passed Diversified teacher qualification certifications make it easier for professionals to step onto the podium.

Third, in the "Consolidating Our Society" section, the Party Platform systematically elaborates on the reform measures of the Communist Party of China and the Party in the field of medical care. It not only proposes to help small businesses obtain medical insurance for their employees, but also proposes to It provides access to medical insurance, reduces disputes through litigation reform, thereby reducing medical costs, and also approves restrictions on stem cell research. At the same time, it also takes into account medical benefits from the elderly, women, veterans to children. Subsequently, the party platform seemed to be competing with the Democratic Party and proposed systematic environmental engineering measures, covering specific issues such as protecting the environment, purifying the sky, protecting national parks and oceans, paying attention to climate change, and building new cities and rural areas. In terms of safeguarding the rights and interests of workers, people's voting rights, and the interests of vulnerable groups such as immigrants and AIDS patients, the party platform is also very colorful. It seems that it will raise the "compassionate" banner again in order to quell the "laissez-faire" policy that has been implemented since the Bush administration. Public dissatisfaction caused by social security policies has narrowed the gap between Bush and Kerry in social security by about 10 percentage points.

Fourth, in the "Protecting Our Homeland" section, the conservative values ??of *** and the party are fully reflected in the party platform. It not only emphasizes the protection of the family and believes that marriage is "the most basic institution of a civilized society", but also supports the amendment of the constitution to prohibit the legalization of gay marriage and the inclusion of abortion prohibitions. Constitution, which contains a strong conservative stance, is in sharp contrast to the Democratic Party platform. In addition, it also opposes unlimited open stem cell research, changes in social welfare benefits, illegal immigrant temporary worker programs, federal licensing of gun owners and national gun registration; calls for the abandonment of color, nationality and gender discrimination; urges the enjoyment of Welfare recipients are looking for jobs; they have pledged to double funding for abstinence education and international counter-terrorism, etc. They have clarified their basic positions on a series of issues mentioned above.

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The United States The party platforms (Platforms) of each party from 1840 to the present can be downloaded from the following website:

American Political Party Platforms_The American Presidency Project

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/platforms .php