Republican activists predict few waves over platform

The focus is on unity, said one conservative.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Conservative and moderate Republican activists who’ve exposed party divisions over abortion, gay rights and more in past campaigns predict smoother sailing this week as the GOP settles on its statement of principles and policies for the presidential election.

Sharp divisions still exist but there appears to be little taste for complicating John McCain’s chances by mounting a symbolic platform fight as the document is hashed out in Minneapolis starting Tuesday.

“This isn’t a hill we’re going to die on,” said Scott Tucker, a spokesman for the gay rights group Log Cabin Republicans.

“Unlike previous years,” said Gary Bauer, a social-conservative veteran of platform struggles, “I just don’t see deep divisions within the party.”

Bauer, an evangelical Christian who is advising McCain, said the focus is on emphasizing Republican unity on the issues.

Four years ago, the party platform sprawled across nearly 100 pages, with positions on everything from the International Criminal Court to power plant emissions. This time the document is expected to be more succinct, although a McCain push to cut it down to 10 pages probably won’t succeed, said Ann Stone, national chairwoman of Republicans for Choice.

Stone said her abortion-rights group won’t go to the wall trying to overhaul the plank on that issue. The platform typically takes a hard line against abortion rights and in 2004 called for a constitutional ban on abortion as well as on gay marriage.

“This is not going to be the year that we make big changes,” she said. “We know that we can’t get major things done.”

The 112-delegate platform committee headed by California Rep. Kevin McCarthy and North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr meets this week in Minneapolis to work out the document, as the Democratic National Convention unfolds in Denver. The platform will be adopted during next week’s GOP convention in St. Paul.

Party platforms are not binding on candidates or the next president and tend to be largely forgotten once they’re in place.

Even so, candidates want to make sure the document doesn’t drift too far from their own agenda and the GOP in particular has seen platform fights over a variety of social issues.

Tucker said his group is “more interested in substance than symbolism” and believes McCain to be an “inclusive candidate who understands that our party needs to reach out to all Americans to win this election.” McCain opposes gay marriage but also a constitutional amendment against it and has expressed limited support for the rights accorded couples in same-sex civil unions.