The Democrats clearly intended to have a focused message for tonight’s coverage of their convention: Democrats won’t bend an inch in their support of universal access to abortions, Republican obstructionism is responsible for all the country’s ills, Mitt Romney was callous towards the military by not mentioning Afghanistan in his acceptance speech, and the GOP war on women is unending.
But some flies landed in the ointment. A curious party video intoned, “Government’s the only thing we all belong to.” Talk about worshiping the omnipotence of the state. Tammy Duckworth, a disabled military veteran running for Congress in Illinois, praised food stamps in her showcased speech just as voters learned that an unprecedented 46.7 million Americans are enrolled in the program.
But none of this compared with the sudden news that the Democratic platform had been altered to remove any reference to God and the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. At a reception of well-heeled Democratic donors, there was consternation at this news as it spread via the Drudge Report and other outlets, including NRO. “Why did they have to do this two months before an election,” one donor sighed. “Can they ever leave well enough alone? This will only increase right-wing turnout and confuse Jewish donors.”
Democrats obviously didn’t think their platform changes would be noticed; few seldom are. But although the mainstream media won’t emphasize them, I have the feeling the Democrats have stumbled into their own version of a Todd Akin moment, and that’s precisely why suddenly no one here wants to discuss the platform’s changes.