CHICAGO (AP) 鈥 Delegates at the Democratic 好色tv Convention voted Monday night to approve their 2024 party platform, which lays out familiar priorities for the party but wasn't updated to reflect that President Joe Biden is no longer running for reelection.
The largely ceremonial vote at Chicago's convention signaled the party coalescing around a singular vision for the next four years 鈥 though a somewhat outdated one, as Vice President Kamala Harris has only outlined a few of her own specific policy positions since she took over the Democratic presidential ticket last month. The platform makes repeated reference to Biden's 鈥渟econd term" despite the president's decision a month ago to no longer seek one.
The Democratic 好色tv Committee said the more than 90-page document 鈥渕akes a strong statement about the historic work that President Biden and Vice President Harris have accomplished hand-in-hand, and offers a vision for a progressive agenda that we can build on as a nation and as a Party as we head into the next four years.鈥
Regina Romero, the mayor of Tucson, Arizona, and co-chair of the convention platform committee, told delegates that the platform was passed 鈥減rior to the president passing the torch in an act of love and patriotism.鈥 She said that the platform nonetheless included input from all corners of the party and has a 鈥渇orward-looking vision for our party that echoes the voice of all.鈥
鈥淰ice President Harris is now carrying the torch,鈥 Romero said.
Mitch Landrieu, a former Biden senior adviser for infrastructure projects and another platform committee co-chair, said it 鈥渕akes a strong statement about the historic work that President Biden and Vice President Harris have accomplished" while also representing 鈥漚 bold vision for our future."
The platform was approved on the floor by a voice vote.
The convention's platform committee voted to approve the platform on July 16, days before and endorsed Harris on July 21. As a result, the document repeatedly refers to Biden's second term and his administration's accomplishments. It mentions Harris' work as vice president but does not describe her candidacy or go into detail on her views on key issues.
鈥淧resident Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democrats are running to finish the job,鈥 it states, a sentiment that is now out of date.
Republican former President Donald Trump's campaign has sought to tie Harris to Biden, arguing that his policies on the economy and other key issues are deeply unpopular. In a statement released shortly before the convention vote, it said, 鈥淭here is no daylight between Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. The proof? The DNC just released Kamala鈥檚 party platform, and it includes at least (asterisk)nineteen(asterisk) mentions of 鈥楤iden鈥檚 second term.'鈥
Harris has indeed talked generally about supporting the Biden administration鈥檚 key goals, which are more or less endorsed in the platform as written. It calls for restoring abortion rights nationwide, continuing to advance green energy initiatives that can create jobs and help slow climate change, capping low-income families鈥 child care costs and urging Congress to approve a pathway to U.S. citizenship for 鈥渓ong-term鈥 people in the country illegally.
The platform also says Israel鈥檚 right to defend itself is 鈥渋ronclad鈥 while endorsing the Biden administration鈥檚 efforts to broker a lasting cease-fire deal that could suspend the .
Harris laid out a string of last week but otherwise hasn鈥檛 released a detailed list of her policy positions since taking over the top of the Democratic ticket. Her campaign aides have suggested she to some of the more liberal positions she took during her first run for president in 2020, including endorsing a ban on hydraulic fracturing.
In any event, candidates are not bound to adhere to their party's platform and often don't. What the platforms spell out usually has little effect on the race and is unlikely to have much impact on Election Day this cycle.
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