The Constitution Party is unique in American politics today because our candidates across the country do not compromise our core values as reflected in our platform. The first question I ask someone who expresses a desire to become a Constitution Party of Tennessee (CPOT) candidate for public office is, have you read our platform and do you agree with it.
What do I mean when I say that our candidates do not compromise our core values as reflected in our platform? The platform is a statement of the issues, values, and policies that we in the Constitution Party consider to be core or central. We don’t expect a candidate to agree with every single line of the platform, but we do expect complete agreement with its core values.
The core values of the CPOT platform are those that would best serve the interests of the people of Tennessee and our nation if enacted into policy. We believe, therefore, that it is essential for our candidates to read, understand, accept and be able to defend the platform.
This may sound like a simple concept but it is apparently beyond the grasp of most Democrats and Republicans. Remember Bob Dole’s infamous statement in 1996. When asked if he agreed with the Republican platform he said, “I don’t know, I haven’t read it.” In other words, the platform means nothing except an exercise in futility for those who draft it.
One could say that respect for civil rights and human rights in general are a core value of the Democrat platform, but President Obama obviously gives those values nothing but lip service.
The actions of Democrats and Republicans do not match their words and that is something the Constitution Party is determined to avoid.
