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Page 14 - The Michigan Daily -Sunday, July 15, 1984
JACKSON, HART VOW TO DEBATE PLATFORM
Democrats anticipate a quiet convention
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The only
floor fight of the 1984 Democratic Con- 'This is a broad-based document ... a
vention is likely to come Tuesday as
delegates debate the party's platform, document all of us can be proud to run upon
and that battle may be mild in cm- . a conglomeration of mush.'
parison with fights of past Democratic
gatherings. -Rep. Timothy Wirth (D-Colo.)
With Walter Mondale's pre-
With Waler Mndae's re-spokesman for the platform committee
convention designation of a runningkp
mate, adoption of the platform remains
the only major unresolved business of after page, is stinging criticism of stronger affirmative action programs
the convention, with Gary Hart and President Reagan and what the plat- and asserting that quotas are per-
Jesse Jackson both planning challenges form draft calls his "government by missible in some situations. The plat-
over selected parts of the document. subtration." form reiterates Democratic opposition
THE PLATFORM deliberations will And, predictably, it holds out the to all quotas.
give Mondale's vice presidential promise of a better life for all "This is a broad-based document ...
choice, Rep. Geraldine Ferraro- (D- Americans under a Democratic a document all of us can be proud to run
N.Y.) her first convention exposure. president. upon," said Rep. Timothy Wirth (D-
As chairman of the platform commit- ALTHOUGH MONDALE delegates Colo.), Hart's top spokesman on the 435-
tee which drafted the document, on the committee made numerous con- member platform committee which
Ferraro will preside over the debate on cessions in accepting language from adopted the document.
the document, a political statement of Jackson's "new directions" and Hart's IN A LESS generous moment, Wirth
the party's general goals and "new ideas" agendas, they stood firm called the effort "a conglomeration of
philosophy that all Democratic can- in some controversial areas. mush."
didates are expected to embrace. Floor fights are expected over five Seeking to avoid a repeat of the plat-
While Jackson has vowed to fight minority planks, one proposed by Hart form brawls of 1980, party officials set
energetically for his positions during and the other four by Jackson: out from the beginning to keep the
the platform debate, Hart's challenge "-A Hart plank spelling out when a document general and broad, with ef-
centers on one foreign policy plank and Democratic president should not use forts made to sidestep areas of con-
appears more symbolic than substan- military force, a watered down version troversy.
tive. of an earlier Hart plank ruling out use This year's relative harmony was
PARTY LEADERS say they do not of U.S. land forces in a Persian Gulf achieved under the leadership of
expect the floor fights to come close to war. Ferraro, whose role helped propel her
matching the kind of divisive debate " A Jackson plant urging "substan- into the national spotlight before she
that marked the 1980 platfor~m confron- tial" cuts in defense spending instead of was tapped by Mondale to be his run-
tation between forces loyal to then- the increased spending endorsed by the ning mate.
President Jimmy Carter and Sen. Ed- committee version. "It got a little more specific than we
ward Kennedy (D-Mass.). " A Jackson plank stating opposition intended," Ferraro said. "But my real
The proposed 1984 platform is a 35,000 to runoff primaries common in goal was to avoid mentioning specific
word composite, tailored for Mondale's southern states. The platform draft op- legislation or putting dollar figures on
candidacy but also borrowing heavily poses such races only where they can programs. And we did that. It came out
from themes generated by Hart and be demonstrated to be discriminary. better than I expected."
Jackson. And stitched through it, page * A Jackson plank advocating The platform is more fiscally conser-
Women's political power increases
LONDON (AP)-While Walter Mon- But there is no particular rhyme or top marks for genuine female in-
dale was wondering whether to pick a reason to the accession of women to volvement in government. Norway's
woman as his candidate for running power in these countries. With the Gro Harlem Brundtland served as
mate, Iceland'spresident was settling possible exception of Norway, none can prime minister for nine months in 1981.
into her second term of office and boast an unusually liberated attitude to The 45-year-old socialist was toppled by
Liechtenstein's women were. only just women, and there is no evidence that a conservative-led coalition and now
getting the right to vote. , where women govern, the female half leads her Labor Party in opposition.
The two extremes typify the of the population is better off than The present Cabinet in headed by a
paradoxes in Europe and the rest of the elsewhere. man, Kaare Willoch, but four of its 17
world when it comes to women in Israel's Golda Meir never had a members are women, more than in any
politics. woman in her Cabinet. To the end of her other European country.
BRITONS, ISRAELIS, Indians, Sri five-year term as Prime Minsiter in IN THE PRESENT Swedish gover-
Lankans, Norwegians and Argentines 1974 she scoffed at the feminist nment, women hold the education,
have been governed by women and movement. Britain's Margaret That- energy, labor and immigration por-
therefore may see nothing special in cher has had only one woman in her tfolios. Denmark has sometimes had as
Mondale's decision. Cabinet. And the feminist movement many as five women in the Cabinet.
has not thought much of her since she Spain has never had women in high
AW V11 A U urged her people to "return to the Vic- office, but next door, Portugal had
torian values." Maria de Lordes Pintasilgo for prime
t *LA m ?O1. SOON AFTER her election in 1979 as minister for six months in 1979.
Britain's first female prime minister, France's Simone Veil seemed to
DAILYMANE2Thatcher said she considered women make some headway for women in 1979
DAILY 1: OPM. SHOWS $2.00 "much more logical, much more when she was elected president of the
PIEE ERARi reasonable, much more sensible." European Parliament. But the
A A D DIInterviewed on television, she said, parliament had few powers, and Mrs.
AfiIOmtyFRANOSVEBER "I do not notice that I am a woman. I Veil stepped down when her five-year
LES regard myself as a prime minister." term expired.
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gan- THE WORLD has numerous queens
COMPERES dhi, in power since 1966 with one three- but only one non-regal head of state,
S110,3105.10 ,910 year interruption, is often dubbed, by Vigdis Finnbogadottir, president of
MON. 1:000 :10 admirers and detractors alike, as "the Iceland. A former theater company
TUES. 100, 710, 910, 11 P.M. toughest man in her Cabinet." director, she is a divorcee and women's
THAT'S WHAT they said about the rights campaigner, and is so popular
"A CONSISTENTLY late Meir and still say about Margaret that last month she won a second term
HILARIOUS MOVIE" Thatcher when they're not calling her unopposed.
MOVIE? WHAT MOVIE s "The Iron Lady." There seems to be an On the other hand, the 13,000 women
inclination to attribute :masculine of the tiny duchy of Liechtenstein had to
TOP i ~qualities to women leaders whenever wait until this July 1ito get the vote.
SECIRETI . they do what in men would be taken as
F natural, like sending their countries to In neighboring Switzerland, women
SUN. 1:20, 3:20, 5:20, 7:20, 9:20 war. All three women led their coun- got the vote only 13 years ago; in some
TUE. 1:00, 7:20, 9:20 11 P.M. tries in wartime-and won. Swiss states, they still can't vote in
The Snadinavians by and large rate local elections.
vative than those of either 1976 or 1980.
Absent are jobs or other major spen-
ding programs - the 1980 platform con-
tained a $12 billion jobs program
proposed by Kennedy. It also advocates
increases in defense spending.
THE PLATFORM lashes into the
huge federal deficits of the Reagan
years, vows to restore cuts in domestic
programs made by the president and
urges "sensible arms control
agreements."
Democrats promise to reduce deficits
through a more cost-efficient military,
through a fairer tax program and
through controlling health costs.
ON CENTRAL America, the plat-
form opposes Reagan's emphasis on
military aid, stresses the importance of
a politically negotiated settlement, ad-
vocates restrictions on military exer-
cises in the area, and vows that all
future aid to El Salvador should be tied
to human rights progress.
The platform goes further than past
party platforms in guaranteeing legal
rights to homosexuals in employment,
the military and immigration. It also
deplores acts of violence against "gay
men and lesbians."
It also endorses ratification of a new
Equal Rights Amendment. And from
the Hart campaign, the platform in-
cludes calls for programs to revitalize
the nation's older, heavy industries; for
easing trade barriers; for moder-
nization of the military; for tough new
laws to protect the environment against
acid rain and toxic waste.
Contributions from Jackson include a
minimum tax on corporations,
statehood for the District of Columbia
and a "stabilizing" of U.S. relations
with Cuba.
worldwide
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... leads India forcefully