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There is now a Native American voice helping to write what will be the Democrats campaign message.

This is Trahant Reports.

Deborah Parker has been named to the Democratic National Convention’s Platform Committee.  She was  appointed by Bernie Sanders.

As Nicole Willis posted on Facebook: “I am beyond pleased that American Indian and Alaska Native issues are such a high priority for this campaign – so much that one of our platform spots has gone to Deborah Parker!” (Willis is the National Tribal Outreach Director for the Bernie Sanders campaign.)

Every four years political parties craft carefully worded statements. They outline exactly what the party hopes to achieve over the next four years should they win the White House and Congress.

The way it usually works is the party’s nominee selects the platform committee. That’s exactly what will happen on the Republican side now that Donald Trump is putting his stamp on the Republican campaign.

But the Democrats are not there yet.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has a sizable lead, but not quite enough delegates to win. And Bernie Sanders is in that tough spot of trying to catch up to Clinton with fewer and fewer delegates up for grabs. So when there is no nominee, usually, the party appoints the convention committee posts.

But the Democrats opted for a more inclusive route: Clinton was awarded 6 seats; Sanders 5; and the remaining 4 were appointed by the party itself.

Deborah Parker, a former vice chairman of the Tulalip Tribes in Washington, was an early supporter of Sanders. She has much to offer any platform committee. She understands and can communicate the relationship between tribes and the federal government and what might be possible in terms of improvement. She also was one of the key tribal champions who helped make the Violence Against Women Act, the law.

On Facebook this week Parker said: “It’s an honor to work beside Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

Her work on five topics to include in the platform: Health care for Native Americans; tribal sovereignty; justice for women; reforms for U.S. criminal justice; and, climate justice.

“In short, Bernie said, “We need a systems change for Native Americans. We can do this Deborah. I want you to research what the Alaskan Natives are doing with holistic health. We need to bring their traditional medicine concept into the health care system.”

The platform committee will do much of its drafting before the Democrats meet in July. Then the final document will be approved at the convention.

Both parties routinely have sections that outline their Native American policies.

Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso will co-chair the Republican Platform Committee along with Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin.

What difference does a party platform make? These are aspirational statements, not a governing plan or even legislation, but these are words the two parties will use as they campaign. The platform tells voters, this is what we will do, if you elect us.

I am Mark Trahant reporting.

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The race for president is starting to take shape. This is Trahant Reports.

No matter which candidate you favor, it’s pretty clear that Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton now have the inside lanes to their party’s nomination. The campaign is now all about delegates and both Trump and Clinton are starting to wrack up sizable leads. Of course they could still be beat, but for that to happen, there has to be a sudden and dramatic shift in the primary elections ahead.

That task is even harder because both parties have rules that favor the candidates who are in the lead right now.

The Republicans have a number of states that are winner take all. Trump’s challengers hope they can win in those states and quickly catch up. But more likely the best shot for his challengers — Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and nominally, at least, Ben Carson — is for Trump to fall short of winning an outright nomination. Then, they could make their case at the Republican Convention and win their bid after a floor vote. If that happens, wow, that will be wild.

Democrats don’t have the same system. Delegates are awarded proportionally. This is where Clinton is building her lead. So even if she loses a state or two, there just won’t be enough delegates for Sanders to pass her. She’s roughly in the same position as Barack Obama was eight years ago.

Clinton looks like a sure bet to win the South Carolina primary and then do well in Southern-dominated Super Tuesday primaries on March 1. On that day eleven states will vote and some 880 delegates will be awarded.

So yes, it’s possible that Trump or Clinton will not win their party’s nomination. But after March 1 the math does not favor any of the challengers.

So where does Indian Country stand on this election? So far the story is mixed. In Iowa, Bernie Sanders won the only reservation community by a whopping margin. But in Nevada it appears several reservation communities were split. Sanders won the Duck Valley Reservation, but lost on the delegate-rich Walker River Paiute Reservation. As we go forward I’ll try to add up all the numbers and create a tally of some sorts. We’ll call it the Native Primary.

It’s worth saying that elections are as much about policy as they are candidates. So watch both sides and ask: Who are the candidates running for Congress and how are they aligning with the presidential candidates? This is important because winning the White House is not enough to effect policy. There also has to be a legislative program. And any outsider — even Donald Trump — will have trouble without a regular coalition. Remember he’s running as a Republican, but he’s often running against the establishment Republicans. That’s a tough line to walk if you’re a Republican in Congress running for another term.

Like I said: This election is just starting to take shape. And it’s not recognizable.

I am Mark Trahant reporting.