Letter: Let’s compare Republican and Democratic platforms

To the Editor:

I am a collector of paper ephemera. It is fascinating to capture previous eras by words written and documents saved. Here is an example that certainly applies today: I have a pamphlet on the presidential campaign of 1948 produced by Skelly Oil Co. That was Truman vs. Dewey, if one needs a reminder. Let’s compare Republican and Democratic platforms to see how true the parties remain to their roots.

Republican platform: (As opposed to 2020 platform, which was not published and only referred to as “whatever That Guy says.”) Outlaws lynching (it only took 70 more years to get references to anti-lynching passed); abolition of poll tax (voter suppression can be achieved in so many other ways); change in method of electing president to reflect popular vote (how is that working for you?); eventual statehood for Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico (depends upon definition of eventual); equal rights for women (really? still no amendment); aid to peace-loving countries on basis of self-help within prudent limits; federal aid to states for slum clearance and low-rental housing where the need cannot be met otherwise; expose and defeat Communistic activities; combat inflation by cutting government waste, stimulating production, trimming public debt.

Democratic platform: Adoption of minimum wage of 75 cents an hour ($8.34 in today’s money); full support for the United Nations; equal pay for equal work; extension of Social Security program (like Medicare); equal rights for women (yes, and where is the amendment?); admit 400,000 displaced persons (remember the displaced) by war or economic collapse of their country. Oh, wait, now we call them “caravans of rapists from ... holecountries”); immediate statehood to Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico (only took another 10 years for two of them, crickets on the third); international military aid to U.N. authority, international control of weapons; build defense against Communism and expose and prosecute treasonable activities (after Jan. 6, do we still have to define treasonable activities).

Cheryl Price

Dixon