But on divisive social issues like abortion, the death penalty and gay marriage, the delegates are not only much more liberal than voters in general but substantially more liberal than typical Democratic voters. At every Democratic convention, the delegates hold more liberal positions than rank-and-file Democrats, just as Republican delegates are always more conservative than their voters. That is the nature of political activists.

This is good news to us, as we're hoping to find some kindred spirits in Boston, and we're not very good at playing centrist or cheering them on.

As to the Democratic platform on the war, here's the gist of it:

The position on Iraq taken by Mr. Kerry and Mr. Edwards, and set forth in the party platform the delegates will adopt on Tuesday, is that President Bush acted rashly by going to war based on faulty intelligence with insufficient support from allies and an inadequate plan for occupation after the war.

We can get behind that statement--and cheer it. As for the criticism of Kerry and Edwards on their former votes, we don't hold it against them that they won't say they would have voted differently:

But Mr. Kerry and Mr. Edwards voted to give the president the authority to use military force in Iraq, and unlike some other Democratic senators, they have refused to say they would have voted differently if they knew then what they know now.

Why? Because we care about the present and the future more than who voted for what back when. It's the exit strategy we care about now. Bush can't seem to find one. Kerry will come up with one.

A few other delegate notes from the poll. Check out the female delegate composition:

The delegates, half of whom are women, are older, wealthier and better educated than most Americans. Four in 10 have annual incomes over $100,000 and about half hold post-graduate degrees.

There's a lot more to the poll, we recommend reading the entire article.