The New Republic has posted "Everything you've ever wanted to know about party platforms--and then some," also titled, aptly, "The Corncob Pipe of Politics." It's very good, comprehensive, on the current platforms and debates, and also the history of platform fights--a history that led to today's obsession with keeping the peace, and keeping it light. It's about image. Past platform fights were principled and divisive to the point of schism--slavery, civil rights--but were they better than today's evolutionism? In any case, I think this is a handy reference guide for the coming months.