2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: DU is becoming an example of what is wrong with our political system [View all]Gman
(24,780 posts)Philosophy because that is not their function. Parties are a collection of special interests, each with own philosophy and priorities. The goals of one group may or may not blend with another's. And each group's members may or may not agree with the goals of others. For example guns are important to union members while job issues are the most important things to unions. A union's members may or may not agree with gay marriage it gay rights, but members in general vote for Democrats because of job issues. They often may NOT vote for Democrats because of gay issues and gun issues. There are many other similar agreements and conflicts in the party which makes a clear philosophy impossible. The closest obtainable is a party platform. And that's what happens here.
PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND with something like "so it's OK for unions to hate gays" or some similar unrelated nonsense. (Or "so gay rights are nonsense" for that matter.)