Obama orders God, Jerusalem back in party platform

US President Barack Obama ordered Democrats Wednesday to reinsert references to God and Jerusalem in their party platform, quickly moving to snuff out a damaging political row. The controversy had threatened to detract from the party’s drive to draw a sharp contrast with Republican nominee Mitt Romney on the eve of Obama’s crucial nominating speech on Thursday.

Delegates at their Charlotte, North Carolina convention had faced a torrent of Republican criticism and some from within the party after dropping pro-forma references to God and the party’s support for Jerusalem being recognized as the capital of Israel. A campaign official told AFP that the president, who has been hammered by Republicans who see him as too tough on Israel, personally intervened to have language on Jerusalem, a feature of past party platforms, restored.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Obama had also questioned why the party ever dispensed with language in the 2008 platform referring to America’s “God-given” potential. Amid chaotic scenes, Democrats began the second day of their nominating jamboree amending the platform they had adopted just 24 hours earlier.

Sensing the move may rile influential religious and Jewish voters, convention manager and Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, asked for approval of a revised document. Proposing the motion, former Ohio governor Ted Strickland said “faith and belief in God is central to the American story” and “President Obama recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and our party’s platform should as well.”
But when a voice vote was called the “nays” appeared to match the “ayes.”

“I — I — I guess, I’ll do that one more time,” said an obviously flustered Villaraigosa. Despite the second attempt leading to a similar response, Villaraigosa declared: “In the opinion of that chair, two-thirds have voted in the affirmative. The motion is adopted, and the platform has been amended.” That sparked a chorus of boos from the floor.

Since 1992, Democrats have stated unequivocally that “Jerusalem is the capital of Israel,” but the US embassy remains in Tel Aviv pending an agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians on “final status” issues. The status of Jerusalem is one of the most contentious issues of the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a thorny issue in US politics.

Democrat and Republican White Houses have long stated that Jerusalem’s final status should be decided by negotiations between the two parties. But thanks in large part to the influence of Jewish voters in key battleground states like Florida, relations with Israel are a hot button issue in US elections.

The platform is a largely symbolic document, which is often ignored by the powerful executive branch.

Source: Vanguard

Obama nominated after Clinton's rousing speech

 

In an impassioned speech that rocked the Democratic National Convention, former President Bill Clinton proclaimed Wednesday night, "I know we're coming back" from the worst economic mess in generations and appealed to hard-pressed Americans to stick with Barack Obama for a second term in the White House.

Obama strode onstage as Clinton concluded his speech. The 42nd president bowed, and was pulled into an embrace by the 44th as thousands of delegates jammed into the convention hall roared their approval.

Not long afterward, the delegates formally awarded Obama their nomination to a second term in a post-midnight roll call of the states, The Associated Press reports.

Clinton, conceding that many struggling in a slow-recovery economy don't yet feel improvement, said circumstances are indeed getting better, "and if you'll renew the president's contract you will feel it."

To more cheers, he said of Obama, "I want to nominate a man who is cool on the outside but who burns for America on the inside."

Clinton spoke as Obama's high command worked to control the political fallout from an embarrassing retreat on the party platform, just two months from Election Day in the tight race with Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

Under criticism from Romney, the Obama camp abruptly rewrote the day-old document to insert a reference to God and to declare that Jerusalem "is and will remain the capital of Israel." Some delegates objected loudly, but Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, presiding in the largely-empty hall, ruled them outvoted. White House aides said Obama had personally ordered the changes, but they did not disclose whether he had approved the earlier version.

The convention concludes Thursday with Obama's acceptance speech before a prime- time national TV audience. Aides announced he would speak in the convention hall rather than a nearby 74,000-seat football stadium as originally planned. They cited weather concerns as the reason for the switch in a city that has been hit by heavy rains in recent days.

Obama's campaign hoped Clinton's speech would prove especially persuasive in an era of sluggish economic growth and 8.3 percent unemployment. Clinton is exceptionally popular 12 years after he left office, particularly among white men, a group among whom Obama polls poorly.

The speech was deemed so important to Obama's election prospects that convention planners delayed his formal nomination to a second term until Clinton had finished speaking. The familiar roll call of the states began well after television prime time in the eastern part of the country, and was on pace to last until well past midnight.

The speech was vintage Clinton, overlong for sure, insults delivered with a folksy grin, references to his own time in office and his wife Hillary, all designed to improve Obama's shaky re-election prospects.

The convention hall rocked with delegates' applause and cheers the former president strode onstage to sounds of "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow," his 1992 campaign theme song.

He sought to rebut every major criticism Republicans leveled against the president at their own convention last week in Tampa, and said that in fact, since 1961, far more jobs have been created under Democratic presidents than when Republicans sat in the White House â€" by a margin of 42 million to 24 million.

Clinton accused Republicans of proposing "the same old policies that got us into trouble in the first place" and led to a near financial meltdown. Those, he said, include efforts to provide "tax cuts for higher-income Americans, more money for defense than the Pentagon wants and ... deep cuts on programs that help the middle class and poor children."

"As another president once said, 'There they go again,'" he said, quoting Ronald Reagan, who often uttered the remark as a rebuke to Democrats. There was another reference to Reagan, whom Democrats routinely accused of advocating "trickle down economics" that favored the rich.

" We simply cannot afford to turn the reins of government over to someone who will double down on trickle-down," Clinton said.

Obama flew into his convention city earlier in the day and arrived in the hall in time for Clinton's speech.

On an unsettled convention day, aides scrapped plans for Obama to speak to a huge crowd in a 74,000 seat football stadium, citing the threat of bad weather in a city that has been pelted by heavy downpours in recent days.

Source: The Nation