Democrats Amend Platform To Restore Language Specifically Mentioning God

As reported by ABC News, the Democratic National Convention at the beginning of its session today voted to amend its previously adopted Platform to restore the following language that had appeared in the 2008 Platform, but had been omitted from this year's document:

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.

The Republicans had strongly criticized the omission of this sentence since it meant that the word "God" did not appear anywhere in the Democratic Platform, while the Republican Platform uses the word "God" 12 times. (See prior related posting.) The 2012 Democratic Platform did already have a section on Faith. (See prior posting.) The vote today also restored language from the 2008 Platform recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Procedurally the amendment required a 2/3 vote, and Convention chairman Antonio Villaraigosa took the voice vote 3 times in a row before declaring the Platform amendments had passed.