There was a story about the DNC rejecting efforts from some mainline
religious groups to give welcome baskets to delegations that contained
local candy, maps, directions, etc. It was rejected because they
didn't share the beliefs of the convention.
And then there is this.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/05/dnc-god-jerusalem-platform_n_1859200.html
Democrats Efforts To Reinsert 'God' And 'Jerusalem' Into Platform Met
With Loud Opposition
Posted: 09/05/2012 5:46 pm Updated: 09/05/2012 6:29 pm
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A rare unscripted moment at the Democratic National
Convention here Wednesday resulted in an embarrassing moment for the
party that is certain to be used in Republican television ads over the
next two months.
After they took heat for omitting any reference to "God" in their
platform, and for eliminating language from the 2008 platform that
identified Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Democrats tried to add
the language back into their party platform with a voice vote.
A source informed on the deliberations told The Huffington Post that
President Obama personally interevened (sic) to strengthen the
language. Speaking with HuffPost, a senior Obama administration
official also confirmed the president's involvement.
But when Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villagairosa, the convention
chairman, came to the podium to ask for the approval of the delegates,
those who shouted opposition to the language change were as loud, if
not louder, than those who voiced their support.
Villagairosa, in what quickly became an awkward moment, asked for the
voice vote three times in all. After the second time, he paused for
several seconds and looked behind him for guidance from a convention
staffer -- possibly a parliamentarian -- before turning back and
asking for a third vote.
Even though the no's were again as loud if not louder than the aye's
on the third vote, Villagairosa said he had determined that two thirds
of those present had voted in favor. Boos filled the arena in
response.
Within minutes, Republican National Committee staffers had uploaded
the video to YouTube and were circulating it on Twitter.
The party platform's section on Israel, which broke with previous
years' precedent by removing the explicit reference to Jerusalem as
the capital of Israel, had sparked furious outcries among Republicans
and the pro-Israel crowd.
Sources told The Huffington Post on Tuesday that the response took
party officials by surprise, since the language of the platform had
been carefully orchestrated to emphasize America's close ties to
Israel and to avoid wading into controversial "final-status" issues,
like the designation of Israel's capital.
Two sources also told HuffPost that officials with the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee, the bipartisan and staunchly pro-Israel
interest group known as AIPAC, had vetted the draft and signed off on
its provisions.
AIPAC-linked sources later vociferously denied the report, telling
reporters that the organization had initially proposed language that
included Jerusalem as the capital, and that their officials never
reviewed the "full Middle East platform."
The source informed on the internal party deliberations said the
latest change to reinsert the Jerusalem language was made in order to
calm the controversy, not to change the intent of the passage.
"Democratic party officials were and continue to be exceedingly
comfortable with the original language," the source said. "The
original language was stridently pro-Israel, and they felt that this
controversy over the Jerusalem wording was distracting from their
overall message."
But a second party source said that top leaders in the party were
"pissed" when they found out about the exact wording of the platform,
and had spent Wednesday pressing for the language to be changed.
The Jerusalem addition to the platform is below in full:
"Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel. The parties have
agreed that Jerusalem is a matter for final status negotiations. It
should remain an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths."
This post has been updated to include comment from a senior Obama
administration official.