Party Platforms - Worthless Or Not ?

I've always thought one of the most useless things a party could do was waste the time to write and approve a party platform. This is especially true on the state level, but I thought it was probably just as bad on the national level. After all, how many people do you know who have actually read the latest platforms of the two political parties (other than those who helped to write them. But it looks like I may have been wrong about that.

One of the latest surveys from the good folks at the Pew Research Center shows that a majority of the people want to know what is in the party platforms. In fact, more people are interested in the party platforms than are interested in the presidential and vice-presidential speeches and the roll call of the states (normally the most interesting things at a convention).

The survey was conducted between August 23rd and 26th with a random sample of 1,010 adults (with a 3.6 point margin of error). The poll doesn't necessarily say most people want to read the platforms, but they do want to know what is in them. You can expect both the Democrats and Republicans to be interested in what their own party does and not so interested in what the other party does, and the numbers bear that out. But what I found really interesting was the interest of the general public and of those who identify as Independents. Here are those numbers:

GENERAL PUBLIC INTERESTED IN. . .
Republican Party platform...............52%
Democratic Party platform...............55%
Mitt Romney's speech...............44%
barack Obama's speech...............51%
Republican roll call of states...............43%
Democratic roll call of the states...............42%

Obviously, I was wrong in thinking only a few people (the media, the pundits, and a few of us political junkies) would be interested in what is actually in the party platforms. It looks like a lot of people are interested. Which makes me think the Republicans might want to print as few copies as possible of theirs -- since it is one of the most extremist platforms a political party has produced. It might shock most American voters.

For instance, their platform contains an anti-abortion plank that has no exception for rape, incest, or the life and health of the woman. An incredibly large portion of the American people don't like that. Another poll taken recently, the Daily Kos/SEIU State of the Nation Poll, shows this very clearly. Look at these numbers:

WOULD YOU SUPPORT A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BANNING ALL ABORTIONS WITHOUT ANY EXCEPTIONS, EVEN IN CASE OF RAPE, INCEST, OR WHERE THE LIFE OF THE MOTHER IS THREATENED?
Support...............13%
Oppose...............75%
Not sure...............12%

And that's only one of many extreme far-right-wing positions in the Republican platform. I like the idea that people are interested in the platforms. That can only help President Obama and the Democrats.