Democrats approve program that mentions Biden’s “second term”
By WILL WEISSERT and ALI SWENSON
CHICAGO (AP) — Delegates to the Democratic National Convention voted Monday night on their 2024 platform, which lays out the party’s known priorities but has not been updated to reflect the fact that President Joe Biden is not running for re-election.
The largely ceremonial vote at the convention in Chicago signaled that the party was agreeing on a common vision for the next four years – albeit a somewhat outdated one, since Vice President Kamala Harris has laid out few of her own specific policy positions since assuming the Democratic presidential nomination last month. The party platform makes repeated references to Biden’s “second term,” even though the president decided a month ago not to seek another.
The Democratic National Committee said the 90-page document was “a powerful statement on the historic work President Biden and Vice President Harris have done hand in hand and offers a vision for a progressive agenda that we can build on as a nation and as a party over the next four years.”
Regina Romero, mayor of Tucson, Arizona and co-chair of the convention committee, told delegates that the platform was adopted “before the president passed the torch in an act of love and patriotism.” She said the platform nonetheless included input from all corners of the party and contained a “forward-looking vision for our party that reflects the voice of all.”
“Vice President Harris now carries the torch,” Romero said.
Mitch Landrieu, a former senior adviser to Biden on infrastructure projects and another co-chair of the platform committee, said it was “a powerful statement for the historic work that President Biden and Vice President Harris have done” while also representing “a bold vision for our future.”
The platform was adopted by vote in the plenary session.
The convention’s platform committee voted to adopt the platform on July 16, days before Biden dropped out of the race on July 21 and endorsed Harris. As a result, the document repeatedly refers to Biden’s second term and his administration’s accomplishments. It mentions Harris’ work as vice president, but does not describe her candidacy or detail her views on key issues.
“President Biden, Vice President Harris and the Democrats are committed to getting the job done,” it says – a statement that is now outdated.
Former Republican President Donald Trump’s campaign has tried to link Harris to Biden, arguing that his economic policies and other key issues are deeply unpopular. In a statement released shortly before the convention vote, it said: “There is no difference between Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. The proof? The DNC just released Kamala’s platform and it contains at least (asterisk) nineteen(asterisk) mentions of ‘Biden’s second term.'”
Harris has, in fact, spoken broadly about supporting the Biden administration’s key goals, which are more or less endorsed in the platform as written. It calls for restoring abortion rights nationwide, continuing to promote green energy initiatives that can create jobs and help slow climate change, limiting child care costs for low-income families and urging Congress to approve a path to U.S. citizenship for people living in the country “long-term.”
The platform also states that Israel’s right to self-defense is an “iron guarantee,” while supporting the Biden administration’s efforts to negotiate a permanent ceasefire that could end fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Harris laid out a series of new economic proposals last week but otherwise has not released a detailed list of her policy positions since taking the Democratic leadership position. Her campaign aides have suggested she no longer holds some of the more liberal positions she took during her first presidential campaign in 2020, including advocating for a ban on hydraulic fracturing.
In any case, candidates are not required to adhere to their party’s platform, and often do not. What is in the platforms usually has little impact on the campaign and is unlikely to have much impact on Election Day this cycle.
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