Candidates and elected officials are responsible to their constituents, not to a party. Candidates are drawn to the party whose constitution and bylaws most closely (not necessarily entirely) mirror their own views
Political parties have no business dictating to elected officials or to party candidates what they should stand for or whether or not they support the party constitution, bylaws and platform. It is redundant and confusing, as is, with parties having a national constitution/platform, a state party constitution/platform and county party constitutions/platforms. If the platforms are all the same, why is there a need for three different ones?
It is unlikely that if you put 10 people in a room, and you presented 10 issues to them, any two people would agree totally on all 10 of those issues.
It is the responsibility of the party (among other things) to try to recruit candidates for each open office, support candidates with information and resources, and make sure candidates are treated equally and fairly — not dictate how they should feel about each issue.
It is ridiculous!
Lynn F. Price, Salt Lake City