Democratic Platform Sticks to Biden’s Line on Major Policies
Democratic Platform Sticks to Biden’s Line on Major Policies
(Bloomberg) -- The Democrats’ official platform will likely call for universal health care, major investments in clean energy and a recasting of the criminal justice system, but will steer away from many of the main policy proposals advanced by the party’s progressive wing, according to a draft of the document.
The 80-page draft, obtained by Bloomberg News on Tuesday night, largely hews to Joe Biden’s policy stances and mirrors many of the recommendations proposed by the joint task forces formed by allies of Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders.
After Sanders dropped out of the race, he and Biden formed policy groups in six areas to bridge policy gaps between the more progressive Vermont senator and the more moderate former vice president.
Yet the task forces and the draft platform do not call for some of the progressives’ most sought-after policies such as the Green New Deal or Medicare for All.
The party’s official platform is largely symbolic and does not have any binding impact on a potential Biden administration. Rather, it sketches the broad contours of the policies largely supported by the Democratic Party.
“Repairing the damage Donald Trump has done to this country begins with electing Joe Biden this fall and implementing what will be without a doubt the boldest platform in our party’s history,” Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, chair of the drafting committee, said in a statement. “Progress is rarely easy, but together we can move our country forward and resign Donald Trump to the dustbin of history.”
The document will be discussed by the full platform committee on Monday before it is sent to all delegates to the Democratic National Convention, who will vote on it before the August gathering. The party’s convention, held in Milwaukee, will be a largely virtual affair because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Specifically, the draft states the party supports securing universal health care by adding a public option to the Affordable Care Act, which has long been Biden’s position on the issue. It also calls for lowering drug prices by taking on the pharmaceutical industry, eliminating racial and gender inequities in health care and protecting women’s reproductive rights.
The platform also echoes Biden’s recently announced $2 trillion climate plan that calls for substantial investments in clean energy and ambitious goals to reduce pollution. It calls for eliminating pollution from power plants by 2035 and achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
On criminal justice, the document advocates strict national standards for the use of force, improved training and accountability and a move toward prevention and away from over-policing drug use. The language reflects the spotlight on police brutality and systemic racism that follows weeks of protests nationwide after the death of George Floyd in police custody.
“Democrats believe we must ensure real accountability for individual and systemic misconduct in our police departments, prevent law enforcement from becoming unnecessarily entangled in the everyday lives of Americans, and reimagine policing for the benefit and safety of the American people,” the document says.
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