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"         CHARLOTTE, N.C. \u2014 To the long list of differences between Republicans and Democrats, add this bit of nitty-gritty: When a voice-vote is held on a contested item, the chair of a Republican convention simply ignores the dissenters and gavels in the desired result. At a Democratic convention, the chair looks confused, calls for the voice vote to be repeated a second and then a third time, then gavels in the desired result. Last week&amp;#039;s Republican National Convention adopted, by voice-vote, changes to two rules: one strengthening party control over nominating votes cast by delegates, and the other enabling the Republican National Committee to bypass convention votes and change the party&amp;#039;s rules between conventions. A possibly significant number of dissenting voices, primarily Ron Paul supporters (many of whom claimed their convention buses were deliberately diverted so they would miss the vote) were ignored as House Speaker John Boehner declared the acceptance of rules changes. On Wednesday night, Democrats changed their convention platform \u2014 adopted barely 24 hours earlier \u2014 to add a mention of God and declare that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Coincidentally, the move came after criticism from Republicans. When time came to reinstate Jerusalem, Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles mayor and Democratic convention chair, called for a voice vote. When the &amp;quot;nays&amp;quot; appeared to match the &amp;quot;ayes,&amp;quot; Villaraigosa appeared a bit flustered.  &amp;quot;I \u2014 I \u2014 I guess, I&amp;#039;ll do that one more time,&amp;quot; he said. Thus emboldened, the nay-sayers became louder through two more rounds of voting,  Finally, Villaraigosa ruled the ayes had it. &amp;quot;In the opinion of that chair, two-thirds have voted in the affirmative. The motion is adopted, and the platform has been amended.&amp;quot; The platform revisions reportedly came at the request of the Conciliator-in-Chief. The changes restored 2008 platform language stating &amp;quot;Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel. The parties have agreed that Jerusalem is a matter for final status negotiations. It should remain an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths.&amp;quot; Also restored was 2008 language that mentions God in the context of human aspirations: &amp;quot;We need a government that stands up for the hopes, values and interests of working people, and gives everyone willing to work hard the chance to make the most of their God-given potential.&amp;quot; Leading the charge for the Republicans, of course, was Paul Ryan hammering away at the platform&amp;#039;s original omission of God and Jerusalem, calling the changes from the 2008 platform &amp;quot;peculiar&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;tragic.&amp;quot; For its part, the 2012 Republican platform mentions &amp;quot;God&amp;quot; 12 times, which is 12 times more than God is mentioned in the Constitution, and 11 times more than God appears in the Declaration of Independence. FOLLOW MORE LIVE COVERAGE FROM CHARLOTTE ALL WEEK LONG RIGHT HERE AND WITH @ESQPOLITICS ON TWITTER &amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;gt; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a15604/god-democratic-platform-12420425/?src=rss>