BOSTON – While Democrats attending their national convention pronounced themselves more united than ever before in their zeal to defeat President Bush, liberal groups and activists are meeting parts of the party’s platform with a mix of derision and resignation.

Many seem to hope some of the things the party says it stands for are merely sweeteners aimed at swing voters and will be forgotten if the party takes power.

Dominated by national security, the party platform that will be voted on this week contains an array of domestic policy positions – including some on gun ownership, corporate tax cuts, and environmental policy, as well as frequent religious references, which appear aimed more at voters outside the party than those within.

But the contents are receiving little attention here while Democrats focus on politics, not policy.

“There is no platform fight here,” observed Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat of New York.

Senator Schumer pronounced the party the most united he has ever seen it.

“The days when Democrats spent more time fighting one another than fighting the other guy are dead and buried,” he said. “Democrats are “willing to cut [Mr. Kerry] all the slack he needs.”

Pressed by reporters, the attorney general of New York, Eliot Spitzer, declined to criticize the platform for not focusing more on corporate governance and the Enron scandal that dominated much early Democratic campaign rhetoric.

New York State Senator Eric Schneiderman of Manhattan said he heard little discussion of policy. “People here are absolutely focused on the election,” he said.

Policy disputes were heated on the fringes of the convention, though. Far from the Fleet Center where delegates gather this week, the historic Boston Common was teeming with demonstrators carrying signs to tell Democrats they had strayed from liberal positions.

“Bush Rapes Iraq – Kerry Will Try a New Position,” said a hand-written signed carried by Terry O’Brien, a 41-year-old Boston substitute teacher, who pronounced the Democratic platform “lame.”

“It doesn’t say anything about the 20,000 children who will starve today. … Kerry is unlikely to say a word about it because he is pro-business,” said Mr. O’Brien, who voted for the anti-war Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio in the Democratic primary but has since registered as a Green.

“John Kerry – Please don’t make me vote Nader,” implored T-shirts sold by a 47-year-old self-employed businessman from Atlanta, Brandy Aronov, who sought to “keep the heat on Kerry.”

Mr. Aronov, who said he opposes the war in Iraq, faulted the Democratic platform for not including promises of universal health care. “The Democratic Party is totally spineless. They are weaklings constantly trying to appease centrists and Republicans,” said Mr. Aronov, who added he would vote for Ralph Nader as long as Georgia appeared to be solidly Republican.

But across the country, many Democratic supporters are choosing to overlook what the party says it stands for – in favor of what they hope it does.

The platform includes some seven references to God and even a statement that the “common purpose” of Americans is “to build one nation under God.” Nonetheless, the executive director of the Godless Americans Political Action Committee, Ellen Johnson, said the group has endorsed Mr. Kerry.

“The people who really want Bush out of office – a lot of us are compromising our principles to get Bush out,” said Ms. Johnson, who is also president of the non-partisan group American Atheists, which promotes atheism and the separation of church and state.

“I hope it is not indicative of where the party is actually going,” she said of the religious rhetoric. “I hope it’s just political strategy.”

Mr. Nadler, a frequent defender of separation of church and state in the Congress,said, “There is nothing wrong in referring to God and referring to God’s protection. … God is not a Democrat or a Republican.”

Likewise, advocates of gun control who argue that the Constitution does not protect the right of individual gun ownership outside of a well-organized militia are not criticizing the platform’s assertion that, “We will protect Americans’ Second Amendment right to own firearms.”

The legal director of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Dennis Henigan, said the statement “may have been very carefully worded to allow some people to believe they take the individual rights view and allow others to believe they didn’t take a position,” he said.

Rather than criticize the platform’s vagueness, he commended the party’s call for a ban on assault weapons.

Similarly, environmentalists offered little criticism of the platform’s declaration that, “We support people’s freedom to choose whatever cars, SUVs, minivans and trucks they choose.”

The legislative director of Friends of the Earth Action, the political arm of Friends of the Earth, a national environmental advocacy group, Sara Zdeb, did not criticize the statements, nor did spokesmen for the Sierra Club.

“I’m not going to speculate on why they say certain things, but we have absolutely no doubts that John Kerry is going to continue to fight to make cars more energy efficient,” Ms. Zdeb said.

A spokeswoman for the AFL-CIO, Chris Owens, said the labor group has not taken a position on Mr. Kerry’s plan to cut corporate income taxes for almost all corporations.

The platform, she said, “doesn’t necessarily address every single issue our unions would like, but overall we think it’s a pretty strong and positive document that shows concern about the economy and jobs and workers rights.”

Back in the Boston Common, a 63-year-old director of alumni records in Bloomington, Ind., Deborah Robinson, said she would remain a Democrat despite her belief the platform is too conservative.

“I am hopeful that the progressives will work with Kerry to make him our president,” said Ms. Robinson, who carried a sign reading, “Democrats for Peace and Justice.”

Likewise, liberal activist Robert Kunst, founder of “Hillary Now”- an effort to promote Senator Clinton for the Democratic ticket – denounced the senator for “selling out” and supporting the right of states to ban gay marriage.

“Hillary, clean up your act,” Mr. Kunst said. But he said he still clung to the hope she would one day be president.

The Progressive Democrats Forum advertised meetings featuring speeches by Mr. Kucinich, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and the president of the Arab American Institute, James Zogby, among others.

The meetings are to take place in a church – outside the perimeter of the official event.