The US Democratic Party is about to hold its own national party convention in Philadelphia. And what a contrast from the Republican Party parade of the weird and wrathful it is. At the convention, Hillary Clinton is going to be announced as official party candidate for the forthcoming US presidential election, having weathered challenges from Bernie Sanders and a torrid time over her lapse of judgement in not seeking stronger security safeguards for her private email server. The Republicans tried to launch a beat-up campaign against Clinton, but their own internal dissension was highly visible at their own party conference, where most of Donald Trump's rivals stayed away to avoid the appearance of collusion, apart from his last rival Ted Cruz, who pointedly refused to endorse either Trump or Michael Pence, the Republican Indiana Governor and his running mate. He was booed offstage by Trump backers at the convention, which reportedly angered many fundamentalist onlookers, given Cruz is a fundamentalist Pentecostal. By contrast, the Democrat National Convention is far more rational and unified. There are going to be some demonstrators from the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign and the Green Party of the United States outside the venue, but apparently no conservative Christian homophobes and anti-abortionists are going to show up in 'enemy territory.' As for the party platform, it was hammered out by a joint committee of Clinton and Bernie Sanders appointees, which makes it an interesting document. Sanders can be proud of his role in shifting the party to the left on some issues. So, what does the Democratic Party platform say? It supports lifting the federal US minimum wage and linking it to the US inflation rate, a cause championed by Sanders. It provides increased access to rural health care and lower prescription drug prices, but stops short of universal access to Medicare, the US public health insurance system. It supports corporate corruption law reform, the expansion of Social Security welfare provision and the abolition of capital punishment, all Sanders goals. Union organising rights, collective bargaining rights and a living wage are all significant concessions to Sanders trade union backers, although the American Federation of Labor-Combined Industrial Organisations (AFL-CIO) have always been strong Democrat supporters. It doesn't contain a fracking ban, nor does it commit the Democrat Party to opposing the Trans Pacific Trade Partnership, but stresses that the latter will need to incorporate stronger workers rights and environmental protection clauses. The party is also committed to national decriminalisation of cannabis, recognising the inevitable, but on the issue of Israel and Palestine, the platform recognises the right of the State of Israel to exist and moves to condemn Israeli settlement of Palestinian territory and an end to the Israeli Occupation were voted down. On the whole, it is a cogent, reasoned and detailed document and Sanders and his backers can be proud of the role that they played in its design, given that several of his campaign's salient and constructive points are incorporated into the document. And unlike the "D-Lister" uncelebrities at the Republican convention, the Democrat ticket is far more in tune with contemporary US popular culture. The only sour note was the resignation of Democrat National Committee chair Debra Wasserman Schultz after a Wikileaks leaked email correspondence drop revealed that she had made disparaging remarks about Bernie Sanders. However, that aside, the party looks unified, focused on the real issues, calm and rational. With any luck, the party will be able to capitalise on that, elect Hillary Clinton to the presidency and make inroads into the Republican-dominated House of Representatives, while recapturing control of the US Senate. If that happens, there may finally be an opportunity to pass the long-awaited Employment Non-Discrimination Act and end anti-LGBT employment discrimination, as well as pass comprehensive national antibullying legislation, all of which would finally bring the United States as a whole up to par with more mainstream western societies. Recommended: Democratic National Convention:http://demconvention.com Hillary Clinton Campaign:http://www.hillaryclinton.com Democrat Party: LGBT Equality:https://www. democrats.org//page/lgbt- equality Julie Tereso: "Most LGBT delegates ever at Democratic convention"Philly.Com:02.06.2016:http://articles. philly.com/2016-06-02/news/ 73496283_1_lgbt-equality- forum-delegates Craig Young - 26th July 2016