Next weekend the Republican faithful of California will descend upon San Francisco for our spring convention. In the last few weeks, delegates have been treated to a deluge of emails and letters encouraging us to vote on leadership positions and various issues coming before the convention. All the matters we will consider are very important not only to the future of our party, but our state. However, the most important matter we will debate is the content of our party platform.
A party’s platform is its heart and soul. It is what unites a diverse group with various interests towards a common goal. Based on a platform’s content, and the adherents’ fidelity to its content, voters are drawn to political parties. The ability to clearly and succinctly communicate our Republican platform is what made President Reagan our finest spokesperson.
When it comes to governance, debates over ideology and political philosophy will inevitably produce heated arguments. Consider the founding of our nation. While all of our Founding Fathers shared the common vision of free and united states, the debates over the document that would bind the nascent republic were incredibly intense. These brave men had pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to a cause greater than their individual comfort or prosperity.
The Republican Party has long been the group of citizens that protects and promotes not just a free market, but the moral foundation upon which our country was established. Unfortunately, there have been attempts to remove the “divisive” planks of the platform that deal with such “controversial” issues as personal morality. Our party must defend these indispensable principles.
There have been arguments that the California Republican Party platform should only deal with economic and national security issues—we need to eject all those pesky parts about family and abortion. This would essentially gut our party and move us closer to a ditto-Democrats platform. Those who want to remove the moral fiber from our platform falsely argue that it causes us to lose elections when we’re so divisive. In fact, it is when we stray from our core principles that we lose elections. Voters are yearning for elected officials that stand for something.
We could approve a party platform that only promotes economic issues. But as history has taught us, a free market unfettered by morality will inevitably lead to tyranny and corruption. Abortionists make good money—but they are violating the most basic moral belief of all: life is precious and deserves our ardent protection. Corporations lead our economy, but as myriad recent scandals have proved, without ethical leadership, companies crumble. And national security is a moral issue—defending freedom and life is our duty.
Creating a state in which families can flourish—by protecting traditional marriage, the innocence of children, and unborn life—is our party’s highest calling. Families are the cornerstone of our society. These are the issues that should define us. Dumping the planks of our platform that define the distinct difference between Republicans and all other parties will lead to a soulless party adrift in the tide of political correctness.
We should hearken back to the Republicans’ first party platform of 1856 that argued for the abolition of slavery. For Republicans, it was a moral issue, not simply one of economic interest. In fact, it was probably argued that it would have benefited the economy to continue slavery. But Republicans took a principled, moral stand in favor of the sanctity of life—we truly believe that all men are created equal. As Republicans, we recognize that we answer to a higher power and our actions on this earth are of eternal consequence.
President Reagan once stated that we need a party whose principles are displayed as bold colors, not pale pastels. Next weekend, we once again have the opportunity to make sure our platform proudly displays those bold colors. To save our party, and our state, let’s paint with the boldest colors possible.
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