WORLDS APART
Although they're forgotten almost as soon as the convention balloons and confetti fall, party platforms are a way to express policy aspirations and rile up the faithful. This year, the Democratic and Republican parties are expressing vastly different visions.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who ran for the Democratic Party's nomination for president, may have endorsed his former rival HILLARY CLINTON, but his revolution is present in the party's platform. This spring, party leaders allowed Sanders to name five members to a 15-member platform committee. The draft document reflects many of Sanders' priorities, including a $15-an-hour minimum wage, an expansion of Social Security and 12 weeks of paid leave to care for a new baby or sick family member. Although Sanders' proposal for a single-payer health care system wasn't included, the draft does support a public health-insurance option. When it comes to pot, the platform calls on reclassifying the drug and allowing "marijuana businesses to exist without uncertainty."
The Republican Party platform, unsurprisingly, reaffirms its support for gun rights while opposing same-sex marriage. But it takes some positions a bit further. In opposing abortion, the platform repeats the debunked claim that Planned Parenthood sells "fetal body parts." It expresses opposition to policies that encourage unwed couples to cohabitate, and states that pornography is creating a "public health crisis."
Other notable Republican planks include calls for more ranching and oil drilling on public lands, and referring to coal as a "clean" energy source. The document also incorporates GOP presidential nominee DONALD TRUMP's call to build a wall along the southern border, but leaves out his proposal to ban Muslim immigration. (JAKE THOMAS)
LAST-DITCH EFFORT
For some, the "Never Trump" movement did not end even as DONALD TRUMP became the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Some delegates, including many from Washington, took the fight all the way to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
On the first day of the convention, delegates tried to force a state-by-state roll call on the rules so they would not have to vote for Trump. Washington delegates, who mostly support Texas Sen. TED CRUZ, were among those calling for a vote. Petitions from a total of nine states were filed, but at the last minute, three states apparently withdrew their petitions, meaning there weren't enough votes to force a roll-call vote.
When the convention chair called for a voice vote, there were plenty of shouts for both "Aye" and "No," but the chair ruled in favor of the former, quashing the attempt to change party rules. Members of the crowd then chanted, "We want Trump!" (WILSON CRISCIONE)
