Almost everyone's heard the proverb, "It takes a village to raise a child." Hell, Senator Hillary Clinton loves that saying so much, she used it for a book's title - and in stump speeches! Well, if that adage proves true, then one could say it takes a nation to birth a party platform. And it may be as painful.

As we speak, operatives and politicos on both sides of the aisle are hammering out their final philosophy, the document that will guide them to November and, they hope, to the White House.

Rather than keeping the drafting internal, both party's are trying to reach out to voters, the Republicans with a website and the Democrats with community drafting committees. These structures, set up by Barack Obama and spread across the land, give ordinary citizens a bit more say in the matter. But, as with all civil negotiations, everyone wants a piece of the political pie.

Too bad no one ever said democracy's fair - or, if they did, had never heard of the Rolling Stones.

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Internal emails indicate a race-based culture war within the Democratic National Committee.

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August's Democratic National Convention will have some gay representation. The DNC - led by Chairman Howard Dean - has appointed seven LGBT members for the Convention's Standing Committee, which oversees Convention business and considers delegate recommendations. From the DNC press release, which we've included in full after the jump:

The Executive Committee of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) unanimously elected DNC Chairman Howard Dean's nominations for the Chairs and members of the 2008 Democratic National Convention Standing Committees, including a record number of openly LGBT members.

Dean's LGBT appointments include Dr. Marjorie Hill of the Gay Men's Health Crisis organization in New York, Diego Sanchez from AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, State Representative Patricia Todd of Alabama, and Ingrid Duran of Virginia to serve on the Platform Committee, along with Claire Lucas and Evan Low of California to the Rules Committee and Bob Rogan of Vermont to the Credentials Committee.

In addition to appointing a record number of LGBT standing committee members, Dean was also the first DNC chair to appoint a member of the transgender community to a Convention committee.

Former Vermont governor Dean expressed his excitement over the party's strong showing this election season: "The record turnout and enthusiasm we've seen for our Democratic candidates is a clear sign that Americans trust Democrats to bring much needed change to our country."

The appointments are certainly good news for the DNC, which is currently fighting a gay discrimination lawsuit filed by former Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council leader, Donald Hitchcock.

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Howard Bayless made history in Alabama yesterday. The politico became the openly gay man elected to a public office and will now sit on the Birmingham Board of Education.

Celebrating his victory, Bayless made sure to thank The Victory Fund, a gay non-profit dedicated to helping queer candidates:

This election was about the future of this community, and the Victory Fund understands that in order to change hearts and minds we all have to roll up our sleeves and work hard for our all our neighbors, and that's what I'm going to do. I'm grateful for everything the Victory Fund has done to help us move our state forward.

Bayless' win comes one year after that of Patricia Todd, the state's first openly gay Representative. Victory Fund president Chuck Wolfe also celebrated the news, "Howard Bayless is a hero to gay people in Alabama, but his election proves that all kinds of voters respond to real leadership."