I’ve got a new piece on the home page today about how the Republican Platform Committee handled the delicate issue of global warming:
Crafting a platform that marries John McCain to the Republican base on environmental policy is a little like filing a lawsuit against yourself in which you only get to write one brief. By the time you’re done, you’ve scratched through so many lines and penciled in so many revisions that the document is barely legible. I wish I could show you my copy of the energy section of the 2008 Republican Platform’s working draft. You wouldn’t be able to read it, but you’d see what I mean.
The first thing that’s scratched out is “Global Warming and” at the top of a section that used to read “Global Warming and Environmental Protection.” …
In the end, the energy subcommittee did the heavy lifting, allowing the full committee to clear the energy draft today without a fight.
Moments ago, the full committee took up immigration. This will probably be the most contentious issue the committee will deal with all week. I’ll have more as it develops.