Why doesn't the republican party release the members of the platform committee? Their names are secret, even from each other. strange way to run a national party.

Oh, the democratic platfom committee members are listed on the democratic web site.

Their names are secret for 'security and privacy' concerns.

so much for an open convention... what dupes the republicans are. democrats are bad, but NOT up to the level of the republican elite.

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I would imagine that given the "moderate" face that the GOP is trying to put on during its convention, any attention to the fact that the party's moderates were actually cut out and excluded from the Platform Committee would be pretty embarassing. And that is PRECISELY what I think that this list would reveal.

A prominant politician once said that nobody actually reads or cares about the party platforms. Perhaps that is true with the general voting public.

But given how touchy moderate-to-independent members of the GOP feel about the way they have been treated in this administration -- i.e., getting derided as "squishes," getting strong-armed and co-opted -- it would really rub salt in their wounds if it was revealed that the moderates had been totally excluded from the process of writing the platform, as opposed to being consulted and then ignored (as has been done in the past). This would likely be a bigger story and a political problem than the substance of the platform itself.

-- Bokonon

All it takes is for someone to spread a rumor about these people whoever they are. Just start a website, declare who these people are wheter or not it's true and eventually we should be able to deduce who's on there and who's not.

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LOL! Look how far John McCain has progressed in that mission.

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I was essentially told that moderate, pro-choice Republicans like myself are free to vote for the candidates selected by my superiors, but that I could have NO role in the party otherwise.

My positions as a deficit hawk were also highly unwelcome.

So was the fact that I supported McCain during the primaries in 2000 (can you say "blacklist"?)

This was in Virginia ... which is sort of an extreme case, with some VERY ugly intra-party stuff going on, with purges and loyalty tests and groupthink galore. I now live in Colorado, where things seem marginally better, but having been pushed around, insulted and essentially booted out of the GOP, I think that I am going to remain a political independent from now on. It has effected my voting, too -- I'll be darned if I am going to be dragooned into voting for candidates that I find to be low quality and extreme just out of party loyalty, or because Democrats are supposed to automatically be a vote for socialism and Satan.

Cheers!

-- Bokonon

I'll agree with you there! I find it pretty suspicious that McCain really supports Bush for the presidency. I didn't see his speech, but someone told me that he never actually mentioned George's name once. He merely referred to him as "The President" and left immediately after talking. I suppose he did what he agreed to do and then got the hell out of there. But political wrangling within any party stinks.

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What about McCain? In my opinion, the parties should start operating like major league teams. That way, we could trade McCain for Miller. That way the Republicans could have a whole 2 people that are actually Goldwater Repubs, Ahhnold and Miller. Or so it would seem.

McCain has turned out to be a real RINO lately. CPFR, anyone?

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McCain wants to position himself to run in 2008. I believe at heart he despises Bush, but he plays the party man, and Bush is probably paying him off with a promise of support in 2008, when the election is going to come down to him or Guilliani and what ever proto-fascist crawls out from under a rock to lead the Christian Right wing of the party. Should be an interesting cat fight.

If you think Arnold is a Goldwater Republican, you certainly don't know much about his stands on the issue. He talks a good line for the convention crowd, but Ahnuld is a democrat ideologically speaking and is hated by the far right crowd. He is a Republican for one reason- he wants one thing very badly - to be President. He has one goal, to get the Constitution amended. He has made a calculated politcal decision as to which party is most able to help him achieve that goal. Myself, I would love to see him run. He has done a surprisingly good job in California and recognizes how compromise works and has the persauvive abilities to work with both parties and would make the perfect president for the gridlock government I yearn for.