In a move that caught the media by surprise, the Republican National Committee (RNC) announced that it had gotten the approval of every one of the 17 leading declared Republican presidential candidates to publish a comprehensive platform for the 2016 elections.
“The Democrats are always accusing us of not setting forth a positive agenda for America if our candidate wins the White House,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. “This should put an end to that criticism.”
Here is the full platform as distributed to the media by the RNC.
Terrorism and National Security
It’s a scary world out there and it’s Hillary Clinton’s fault. We need the government to protect us from all sorts of frightening enemies and Hillary can’t do that because she’s secretly on their side.
Jobs and the Economy
It’s Hillary’s fault that some Americans are unemployed or underpaid and if she’s elected, it will be even worse.
Health Care
It’s Hillary’s fault that people get sick and that medicine and treatment cost so much.
Immigration
It’s Hillary’s fault that brown-skinned people come to our country illegally and take all the worst, lowest-paying jobs.
Budget Deficit
It’s Hillary’s fault that the government spends more money than it collects in taxes and fees.
Moral Values
It’s Hillary’s fault that her husband committed adultery. If she’s elected, lots of people will commit adultery and families will fall apart.
AllGov Washington editor Sidney Finster was able to land a brief one-on-one interview with RNC spokesman Douglas Neidermeyer.
“I told him I was a bit confused by the Republican platform,” said Finster, “because it didn’t actually mention a single policy proposal. Neidermeyer seemed irritated by my question and treated me like I was politically naïve.
“This is an election,” he explained. “Elections aren’t about policy; they’re about personality…and fear. If you want to know about our policies, you’ll have to wait until after the election.”
Finster also contacted Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Her media department declined to be interviewed, but one PR specialist did agree to answer a few questions by email with a promise of anonymity.
“The Republican platform positions are absurd,” she said, “although we do agree that presidential elections are not about policy, but about personality and fear. Because American voters are much more likely to vote against a candidate rather than for a candidate, we intend to concentrate on being as vague as possible about what Hillary intends to do once she becomes president. It’s a challenge to keep up vagueness for more than a year, but we’re counting on the TV networks to help us.”
Finster then asked what will be the major themes of the Hillary Clinton campaign.
“Oh, we’ll say a lot of things,” the spokeswoman said, but really our argument to swing voters is a simple one: ‘Do you want a Republican to choose the next couple Supreme Court justices?’ That’s about it.”
-David Wallechinsky