The Republican Party deserves a platform

Nobody has ever accused Donald Trump of being a details man, and there is no need for him to match the Democrats line-for-line. But at least his 2016 campaign at had a few easily summarized proposals, such as “build the wall.” A party platform also provides organizing themes for state parties, not just the presidential campaign. A platform for Republicans in 2020 could easily have taken the form of early party platforms that stated broad visions in simple language that could be printed on a single broadsheet page. Newt Gingrich’s 1994 “Contract with America” was a fine modern example of concisely framing the policy stakes.

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Instead, the campaign statement appears to suggest that the platform is Trump himself. With Trump’s approval ratings still lagging, that is a dubious political choice; Republicans would be better served to focus voters’ attention on the real differences between the two parties, especially for the benefit of down-ticket candidates in jurisdictions Trump is unlikely to carry. Worse, it suggests that Republicans may miss the opportunity to fully take advantage of a victory in November.

It’s been a hallmark of our era that institutions that should be jealous of their prerogatives and self-respect have willingly given them away when politically convenient. This has been especially true of Congress, and now the Republican Party is guilty of the same institutional self-abasement.

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