GOP seeks unity as ‘party of mavericks’

Republicans are embracing John McCain as their presidential candidate by declaring themselves mavericks but at the same time calling for unity on most issues.

The effort to tie the 2008 Republican Party Platform to its presidential nominee was clear from the first page of the official copy, released Friday, calling the GOP “a party of mavericks.”

{mosads}“As the party of ideas, rather than a mere coalition of interests, we consider vigorous debate a strength, not a weakness,” wrote Platform Committee co-chairmen Rep. Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) and Sen. Richard Burr (N.C.). “Indeed, we are a party — as we are as a nation — of mavericks.”

However, the party is also trying to strike a unified message. During a committee debate this week over the issue of drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), Republican delegates expressed concern that major deviation from the formal stance of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) — who opposes drilling in that region — could send the wrong message.

“President McCain will be in a much better position to get that done than Sen. McCain,” said South Carolina delegate Mike Fair on Wednesday.

Others in the room agreed that the press would focus on the differences.

The party’s final version of the platform touches on the drilling issue, saying that the party opposes actions that would permanently block access in the ANWR region.

Also, the phrase “global warming” was stricken from the final version. It had appeared in the early draft — the first time the term had been included in the party plank.

However, the call for unity did not extend to the issue of embryonic stem cell research.

McCain supports the use of embryonic stem cells for research purposes; the Republican Party Platform officially does not.

“We call for a ban on human cloning and a ban on the creation of or experimentation on human embryos for research purposes,” it reads.

McCarthy and Burr managed to shorten the final version of the party platform by about 30 pages — an early goal for the chairmen, who hoped to make the document readable to the average voter.

The platform was passed by state delegates on Thursday and will be ratified on the convention floor on the first day of the convention.