GOP Adopts Platform; ‘Rallying Cry for All’

NEW ORLEANS — Republican delegates chorused their approval today of a book-length, conservative-edged platform styled as “a rallying cry for all those who share our values.”

There was neither debate nor dissent on a single plank as the platform was approved in the half-empty Republican National Convention hall.

The document was adopted by voice vote after Nebraska Gov. Kay A. Orr, the chairman, and other leaders paraded to the podium to describe their work as “a love letter to the American family,” “an investment in the future of our children,” and a rebuke to what they said was the evasiveness of the Democrats.

Orr said the 40,000-word platform is “something more than a list of policies. It is a rallying cry for all those who share our values. . . . It is meant to chart a more certain course for our future, for our children.”

“It’s hard to take a stand on controversial issues, but we Republicans would rather take a stand than take a walk,” said Patricia Goodrich of Madison, Wis.

Delegate Comments

Marilyn Thayer, a New Orleans delegate who led the drafting of the planks on family issues, called it “a love letter to the American family” that stands on “Judeo-Christian tradition.”

The platform toes the conservative line on taxes, abortion and defense while pledging new efforts to improve child care, education and the environment.

Like the last two GOP platforms, there was no minority report for the full convention to debate.

That outcome was assured Monday when the 106-member Republican Platform Committee approved the proposed platform with only two dissenting votes. No one attempted to gather the 27 signatures needed to file a minority report.

The only “no” votes in the committee were cast by Connecticut’s two platform members, Sen. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. and Mary Boatwright.

No formal tally was taken. A few of the 106 members were absent, including Orr, who attended a luncheon honoring Nancy Reagan.