DNC Reverses Platform on Israel Amidst Boos

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Democrats sought to tamp down a pair of controversies as they gaveled open the second night of their convention Wednesday, inserting the word “God” into their platform and restating support for Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Both had been omitted from the original draft and Republicans had seized on the absence to question both the Democrats’ faith and their commitment to Israel.

The language was adopted as amendments to the party platform as the first order of Wednesday’s business, but not without controversy. It took three attempts to pass the language regarding Jerusalem and a subjective decision by the convention chairman, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, to decide the change had the required support of two-thirds of the delegates. To many listeners, the voice vote seemed at least evenly divided. (Los Angeles Times)

This action, though on a completely different topic, mirrors the actions of the RNC when they ignored the voice vote to push through dramatic rule changes that centralize power away from the grassroots of the Republican party.