Convention Shouts to Keep God and Israel out of Platform

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A rare unscripted moment at the Democratic National Convention here Wednesday resulted in an embarrassing moment for the party that is certain to be used in Republican television ads over the next two months.

After they took heat for omitting any reference to "God" in their platform, and for eliminating language from the 2008 platform that identified Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Democrats tried to add the language back into their party platform with a voice vote.

A source claimed that President Obama personally intervened to strengthen the language. A senior Obama administration official also confirmed the president's involvement.

But when Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the convention chairman, came to the podium to ask for the approval of the delegates, those who shouted opposition to the language change were as loud, if not louder, than those who voiced their support.

Villaraigosa, in what quickly became an awkward moment, asked for the voice vote three times in all. After the second time, he paused for several seconds and looked behind him for guidance from a convention staffer -- possibly a parliamentarian -- before turning back and asking for a third vote.

Even though the no's were again as loud if not louder than the aye's on the third vote, Villaraigosa said he had determined that two thirds of those present had voted in favor. Boos filled the arena in response.

Within minutes, Republican National Committee staffers had uploaded the video to YouTube and were circulating it on Twitter.

The Democratic party platform's section on Israel, which broke with previous years' precedent by removing the explicit reference to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, had sparked furious outcries among Republicans and the pro-Israel crowd. See Chick's SQUATTERS.