The Democratic Party's proposed 2004 platform is not going to rock any boats.
It's a model of playing it safe, much like Sen. John Kerry's super-cautious centrist campaign for the presidency.
A hefty portion of the 16,000-word platform -- expected to be approved at the Democrats' national convention later this month in Boston -- is devoted to national security.
It misses an opportunity by failing to rule out the Bush administration's disastrous policy of preemptive war, but says it should only be used as a last resort. Democrats will have to look elsewhere for bold strokes.
Two years ago, President Bush radically transformed American foreign policy by giving new emphasis on the U.S. military's role in the world. In many ways, he transferred foreign policy from the State Department to the Pentagon, and from collective security to an arrogant go-it-alone posture.
In going to war, Bush knew Iraq was no match for the world's only superpower. But he doesn't know how to end the war that he started, as evidenced by the fact that U.S. warplanes are still bombing homes in Fallujah and American troops remain under attack.
The Democratic platform should have said emphatically that we do not start wars unless we are attacked, as is required by the U.N. Charter.
The platform also should have renounced engaging American armed forces in a conflict under false pretenses.
The Democrats' draft platform has it both ways, saying "we will never wait for a green light from abroad when America's safety is at stake, but we must enlist the support of those we need for ultimate victory."
It's a huge disappointment that the platform doesn't urge pulling the troops out of Iraq. Instead, the Iraq section speaks of promoting democracy "starting with a peaceful and stable Iraq" and building alliances.
It also proposes that additional troops be sent to Iraq.
A recent New York Times/CBS News poll says Democrats by a margin of 56 percent to 38 percent favor getting U.S. troops out of Iraq as soon as possible, even if that country "is not completely stable."
The platform's domestic portion plays up the traditional party focus on social needs. It recommends expanded family and medical leave; more generous tax credits for families and the same access to a health plan for the public that members of Congress have.
The draft also would allow reimportation of cheaper medicine. On education it opposes private school vouchers and supports higher pay and tougher tests for teachers as well as tax credits for students who qualify for four years of college.
It rejects partial privatization of Social Security, which the Republican Party perennially pushes.
On the homeland security front, the platform proposes improved security at borders and chemical plants.
The document supports abortion rights and affirmative action as well as stem cell research.
On the economy, the platform calls for tax breaks for companies that create more jobs in the United States and would end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs abroad. It calls for a higher minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.
It also would roll back tax cuts for families earning over $200,000 a year.
Rep. Rose DeLauro of Connecticut headed the committee that drafted the platform. The platform committee will debate the draft when it meets Friday and Saturday in Miami.
Some anti-war Democrats may seek revisions to toughen the wording.
DeLauro said the platform "reflects John Kerry" and shows the direction the country would go in "under a Kerry presidency."
Republicans can take satisfaction that the proposed platform doesn't call the war a mistake. Instead, the document offers the wimpy observation that "People of good will disagree about whether America should have gone to war in Iraq."
It won't be a Democratic convention as we know it if the delegates rubberstamp the innocuous platform without a fight. The election will be a referendum on Bush's failed war policy -- and the party platform should boldly make that point.
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