Why Trump played little role in 'most conservative platform' in Republican Party history

TheRepublicans have passed what some are callingthemost conservative platform in the party's history, but, perhaps unsurprisingly,their presidential candidate had little role in crafting it.

Donald Trump deviated from the actions ofpast candidates who have actively participated in the drafting of the party platform, possibly in attempt to curry favour withthose within the party still unsure abouthis candidacy.

Trump let the delegates control the platform andthe process.- JoeGruters, member of the Republican Party platform committee

"I would say that Trump let the delegates control the platform andthe process," said Joe Gruters, a Florida delegate and member of the platform committee.

The platform, which was approved Monday at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, outlines the party's guiding principles andpolicy positions. Itis an evolving document that is amended every four years atthe party convention.

Although the candidate is not boundby it, itis taken seriously by some delegates, and the wording is often the result of weeks of workparsing phrases.

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The presumed presidential nominee usuallytakes control of that process and tries to shape theplatform to reflect the message he or shewants tooffer in the generalelection. But in this case, Trump's campaign appears to have been mostly hands-off.

There had been hopeamong some gay Republicans, for example, that the platform might moderate some of thelanguage concerning gay rights. Butthe nearly 60-page approved platform includes language reaffirming the party's opposition to gay marriage and calling for a reversal of the Supreme Court decision that legalized it in all 50 states.

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The platform also opposes allowingtransgenderpeople to use public bathrooms that correspond tothe gender they identify with rather than their biological sex.The party also adopted new language condemning same-sex parenting.

On abortion, there are no exceptions included for rape or incest, but the platform language does include a line that says,"We affirm our moral obligation to assist, rather than penalize, women who face an unplanned pregnancy."

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There is nospecific languageabout the Trans Pacific Partnership, atrade deal favoured by conservatives yet opposed by Trump. However, the platformdoes include language that the U.S. needs better-negotiated trade deals that put "America first."

Trump's team certainly had some involvement in the crafting of the party platform and insistedon inserting language on issues he cares about, including theconstruction ofawall along the U.S.-Mexicoborder to keep out illegalimmigrants.Language about trade was also massaged, Gruterssaid.

'Let the delegates control it on their own'

But mostly, said Gruters, "they really let thedelegatescontrol it ontheir own.It wasnot heavy-handed at all throughout theprocess."

Trump's laissez faire attitude toward the platformcould, inpart, be a political move, an attempt at party unity, particularly among the conservativewing concerned that some of thepolices espoused by Trump are not conservative enough. He has been a fierce critic oftrade dealsandseemed to have taken more moderate views on abortion andgay rights.

"Part of the processof himbringingthe party together is probably trying not to have a heavy hand in it," Gruters said. "And what happened as a result?It'sthe most conservative platformin the history of our party.

"And Ithink that's a result of the lack of interference from the campaign. It's probably the first time it's ever happened."

'I don't think it's going to define Trump'

Yet Trump'slack of interference mightstem from something else: a genuine disinterest.

Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the Elections Research Center, said Trump is the kind of candidate who uses television and social media very effectively. But the platform doesn't fall intoeitherof those categories, he said. It will not be read on television, and few will be tweeting about it.

"I think he would say, 'No one reads it. Who cares?' and the truth is, no one reads it," Burden said.

Historically, it'sbecoming less and less a significant document.- Curt Hartman, delegate from Ohio

Some of the delegates who were asked about the platform after it passed Mondaysaid they knew thegeneral principles within itbut had not read the document.

"Historically, it'sbecoming less and less a significant document," said Curt Hartman, a delegate from Ohio.

Paul Frost, a delegate fromMassachusetts, said he could "give a rat's fanny about it"and that at the end of the day, he never loses any sleep over the platformbecause it's not a mandate and doesn't requireany electedofficialor candidate to abide by it.

"I don't think it's going to define Trump. I don't think he's going to allow it todefine him," Frostsaid.