Cynics dismiss these platforms as no more than a marketing tool aimed at motivating base constituencies to turn out to vote. No wonder the principal author of that platform, Pat Buchanan, despaired of the Republican Party. There is no reason to believe that the Democratic Party platform is any more meaningful. This frames the question in pseudo-military terms. In war, there are many hills that soldiers might fight to take and to hold.
Some hills have more strategic importance than others.
The most crucial hills inspire soldiers to risk all to take and defend, even death itself. Also in politics, some issues inspire parties and candidates to risk all. These issues are their real core beliefs. All the rest is marketing hype, subject to the results of the latest public opinion poll. In the end, a voter can only count on a candidate or party to defend core beliefs.