Republicans defend party platform in the wake of the debate

Iowa Republican party officials are defending their philosophical underpinnings after several of the G-O-P presidential candidates rejected portions of the party’s platform. During Monday’s debate, the candidates were asked whether they supported several planks in the Iowa Republican party’s platform. It calls for abolishing the minimum wage, but Steve Forbes didn’t say whether he liked that idea. As for the Iowa party’s belief that women should be prohibited from serving in military combat, John McCain said during the Gulf War, women showed they perform with heroism in combat. Alan Keyes rejected the platform’s call for U-S withdrawal from the World Trade Organization. Gary Bauer AGREED with the party platform statement calling on schools to teach creationism, but Orrin Hatch rejected the Iowa Republican party’s call for closing down the Environmental Protection Agency. The platform also calls for eliminating Medicare and Medicaid, which George Bush said were bad ideas, too. Iowa Republican party executive director Dee Stewart says questioner Tom Brokaw was engaging in “gotcha politics”Stewart says the proposals Brokaw asked the candidates to address do not necessarily enjoy widespread support in the Republican party.Stewart says the Iowa Democratic Party’s platform has controversial items in it, too, and he hopes those issues are put to the democrat presidential candidates in the next Iowa debate.