Phyllis Schlafly  The Republican and Democratic parties could
have stirred up more television audience for their national
nominating conventions by allowing the delegates to debate their
party platforms. But both presidential nominees exercised such
tight control that no such debate was permitted.  Both parties
adopted their platforms with a single pound of the gavel. The
thousands of delegates who came from all over the country
dutifully played their roles as props for a television special.
It was an extraordinary feat of political management to prevent
political activists in both parties from airing deeply held
differences on political, social, economic and foreign policy
issues. Party managers allowed strong positions on only two
issues essential to their own constituencies, while most of the
verbiage in both platforms was written to appeal to the so-
called middle.  The Republican platform supports traditional
marriage as the "unique and special union of one man and one
woman." It endorses a constitutiona