by Christopher Alan Sweeney

Created on: July 19, 2010   Last Updated: November 20, 2010

Read the party platforms! It is the only way to know what the different parties stand for. Don't ask your friends and family they've never read the party platforms either. Read them for yourself. They're online and easily found.

You might find that your beliefs are more in concert with the platform of the other party.

The platforms are documents which contain the mission statements and a full discussion of policy with respect to all the major issues.

Party platforms are the product of a committee which meets over the course of the months prior to each party’s national convention which are held prior to each presidential election. The platform must be approved by the delegates to the convention.

The party’s nominee for president, who is chosen at the convention, pledges to run on that platform and uphold the tenets of the platform if elected president.

In theory all candidates for national office i.e. Congressmen and Senators also subscribe to the platform of their party.

Remember: The first vote cast in each new congress is the vote to elect the Speaker of the House. The Speaker of the House is the second most powerful person in the United States and would assume the presidency if both the president and vice-president were to die.

All tax and expenditure legislation must originate in the House of Representatives. The Speaker is in total control of the agenda for the House of Representatives and nothing will come to the floor for a vote without being scheduled by the Speaker.

All Democrats will vote for the Democrat candidate for Speaker and all Republicans will vote for the Republican candidate. Therefore control of the agenda for the House of Representatives is set on the first day of each new congress.

When you vote on Election Day this November, you are participating in the process which will determine who will be the Speaker of the House. If you vote for a Democrat congress person you are also voting to re-elect Nancy Pelosi as Speaker.

When you read a party platform you should remember that you are reading a document that is intended to appeal to the widest possible cross section of the electorate – especially the preamble.

However, when you read the sections with respect to the individual issues obfuscation becomes more difficult.

Even though the party platforms are lengthy documents and require a careful reading, only by reading the platforms will you find out the issues that are most important to you.

Perhaps the most important

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