Compiled posts from The Whig blog. See also previous IPR coverage: Modern Whig Parties in Indiana, Texas profiled on The Whig blog; Modern Whig Party National Council Meeting Recap.

---

“Florida Whig Party” Breaks With Modern Whig Party

According to the “Florida Whig Party” site, they have decided to no longer associate with the Modern Whig Party.

First, a little background. The “Florida Whig Party” pre-dated the Modern Whig Party by over a year. After the formation of the Modern Whigs, they decided to ally themselves with the Modern Whigs on a national level.

But very soon after they affiliated, internal tensions began, for two reasons.

First was political. Although both groups are frustrated and unhappy with the Democrats and Republicans in Congress, the two groups had two different base philosophies, and different remedies to issues. The Modern Whigs wanted to reduce partisanship, and adopt reasonable, centrist, and moderate solutions. The “Florida Whigs” were sympathetic with the rhetoric and solutions presented by the far right. After joining, they attempted to moderate some of their rhetoric, but the tension was always there. Recent statements and positions taken by the “Florida Whigs” were criticized by the rest of the Modern Whig membership.

Second, was the immediate tension between the Chairman and founder of the Modern Whigs and the Chairman of the “Florida Whigs.” The “Florida Whig” leader had a “his way or the highway” approach and was very aggressive in his moves to personally discredit the Modern Whig Chairman.

I can’t say I am surprised that the “Florida Whigs” have broken away. Although the Modern Whigs could have used the activism and talents of the “Florida Whigs,” both groups are better off in the long run, are now more coherent internally, and are free to move forward.

So, it is important to note that future statements, actions, and candidates of the “Florida Whigs” are not related to, and have nothing to do with the larger, moderate, national, Modern Whig Party, of which I remain a proud supporter.

---

Learn More About The California Whig Party

The Modern Whigs in California have formed the California Whig Party. From their website:

How Do I Become A Whig In California?

“What do I need to do to become a Whig?” Becoming a Whig is very easy, you can register with us so that we can send you email updates on what is happening with the California Modern Whigs. The California Modern Whigs are attempting to become a Qualified Political Party, we need all those who have been disenfranchised by the major parties to change their voter registration and designate “WHIG” as their political party.

If you are interested a more active role in the Whig movement, we need organizers in all the 58 counties in California. If your county has an active County Rep, please contact them for current activities and events. For example, the Riverside Affliate group is actively engaged in a voter registration drive. If you’d like to volunteer your time and skills, please call 213-341-4566 or email.

Amador High School Modern Whig Project

Students from Amador High School in Sutter Creek California engaged in a mock election on November 4, 2009. This mock election was conducted by the senior class under the guidance of Gregg Wall their teacher. The students selected parties to participate in the election. The students selected five parties to complete for student votes Among the parties selected by the students were the Democrats, Libertarians, Centrist, Constitutionalist and the Modern Whigs.

The students developed a platform and presented it to their class.The students representing the Modern Whig Party, were lead by Travis Glock. He initiated contact with the California Modern Whig Party and proceed to develop a platform that was to be used in the class debate. He asked many good questions and use the Modern Whig Party Tenants and issues to develop a realistic platform for his campaign.

Travis and his team also developed video which can be viewed this link. After the students presented their message, the students voted. The Modern Whig Party obtained the highest vote count in the mock election. We are very proud of all the students in engaging in the mock elections and that the results for the Modern Whigs.

---

Learn More About the Whig Party of New York

The Modern Whigs in New York have formed the Whig Party of New York. From their website:

Why is the resurgence of Whigs planned to be any more successful than previous efforts to dislodge the two party duopoly? We believe that there are two primary reasons why the Modern Whig Party will succeed where the others have failed.

One, we are thoroughly grounded in common sense, rational solutions to real problems and are deeply committed to ending the self serving divisions, partisan bickering and ideologies that have plagued our political system for years. We are not a third party, we are THE MIDDLE PARTY, representing middle America.

The second reason is timing. Timing is everything in politics and NOW people are ready for the answer folks to come along with common sense solutions. People are beginning to finally wake up and see that our political system is failing its citizens and serving itself. It is up to us – We the People, to use a hackneyed term, to come up with solutions. No one else is going to do it for us! Gandhi once said that we need to be the change we want to see in the world.

The New York Whig Party is comprised of people from all walks of life and all political ideas who are committed to finding common sense solutions to public policy issues, to becoming the go-to Answer Folks. We are former Republicans, Democrats, Independents of all kinds, Decline to State and folks who haven’t registered or voted in years. We are energized by our collective efforts and we see that maybe, with millions of citizens sharing the same collective vision, we can, and will in unison , regain effective representation at all levels of government. We hope that YOU will look at our website, see what we have to say and consider joining the Modern Whig Party in the effort to reclaim America.

Exciting plans are brewing to build a vibrant Whig Party of and for New York based on the same open tenets, common sense solutions, citizen-generated platforms and ethics in leadership that are the core underpinnings of the modern Whig movement, and which historically been associated with Whig leadership.

The Un-Party. Common Ground = Common Good. To join us please contact one of the members of our Pro Tem Leadership Team:

Gene Chaas is our State Chairperson Pro Tem and lives with his family in Upstate New York. You can reach him via e-mail at
newyork@modernwhig.org
or 716-207-8904

William Cerf is our Metro New York Coordinator. He is a restauranteur from New York City and currently lives in the Flatbush/Ditmas Park section of Brooklyn, NY.

You can reach him at
nymetro@nywhig.org
Phone: 718-928-3860

---

I’m Off To The Modern Whig National Meeting
[..]

This is the first time that state leaders of the Modern Whig Party have gathered together. It is an exciting time to be involved with the Modern Whig movement.

The meeting technically is of the Modern Whig National Council. This group is composed of state leaders and national officers, and is comparable to the “national committee” of other parties. This will be an organizational meeting, and the first national leadership team will be elected at this meeting.

The Modern Whig Party was founded by Mike Leibowitz, who was selected by the initial group of organizers. The idea of the Modern Whigs was developed by soldiers in Iraq. After returning from war in 2007, the idea of the organizers was originally to start a group to assist veterans, but this developed into an effort to start a new political party. In 2008, the first website was set up, and the recruitment of state and local organizations began.

The reaction was positive, and during the campaign of 2008, a flood of new members joined. Throughout 2009, efforts were made to further develop the party, and a new party Charter and Bylaws were adopted. The new Bylaws mandated a meeting before the end of the year.

The Modern Whig Party is to have officers and an Executive Committee chosen by the National Council. Mike Leibowitz has had to step aside because of the requirements of a new appointment, details to be announced after the meeting. Elaine Stephens, the former Communications Director of the party, has been serving as Chairwoman, and will be leading the party into the meeting this weekend.

I don’t think I will be able to do “liveblogging” since I will be a participant. But if I get the chance, I will post some updates from the meeting.

This meeting is an important step in the development of the Modern Whig Party into a viable, national political party. It is rare that a start up political effort makes it even this far, especially without a controlling outside funding source or a single, central candidate.

I continue to be deeply impressed with the quality of the men and women that I have come into contact with through the Modern Whig Party. Their dedication towards the vision of a moderate, common sense political effort gives me much needed hope that individual citizens can still play a part, and contribute in a positive way.

The idea of a new, reasonable political party has caught the imagination of thousands of Americans, including myself. We have such a long, long way to go. The journey truly begins this weekend.

---

Learn More About the Georgia Modern Whig Party

From the Georgia Modern Whig Party Site:

Founded by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, the MWP is a party of accountability, strong ethics, states rights and energy independence. The party that realizes that ideas often come from the entire spectrum of politics, but appreciates that when the partisan bickering stops, the realistic and common sense solution is often found in the middle.

The Georgia Modern Whig Tenets

There are three different types of Whig Tenets, Ideological, Perceptual, and Structural

Structural
Structural Tenets are the most important to the party. These are truly our core differentiators. Our structure is what makes us fundamentally different, non-ideological, non-partisan, and not confined by the political spectrum.

1. To DEVELOP REAL LEADERS — The most central tenet of this statewide party is to help leaders both grow and exhibit leadership.

2. SELF DISCOVERY — As a Whig it is important to always be learning and growing. This means it’s the parties responsibility to pull information together and help members discover for themselves their stance.

Perceptual
We have become a reactive society. While there is little we can do about the underlying problem, as a party we must always consider many perspectives including the long term perspectives.

3. FOCUS ON LONG TERM PROBLEM SOLVING — We have developed into a reactive nation. The only issues being seriously considered are those who make the top of each media hour, however it is important to be talking about and solving issues that are for seeable before they are major issues.

Ideological
It might be strange that we claim to be non-ideological and yet hold 5 ideological tenets. The reality is these are critical to the welfare of the country and party. These ideals bind us as moderates, unify us as Americans, and most importantly exclude radicals.

4. FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY — State governments currently do not print money, it must spend within its means, and while debt can have be used as a tool from time to time, it also forces our children to pay later much more then we gain today.

5. GEORGIA’S ENERGY INDEPENDENCE — While its unlikely Georgia can be completely energy independent it can still take great strides in improving its position.

6. SCIENTIFIC ADVANCEMENT AND EDUCATION— Good education in the math and sciences is a core tenet of the Whig party. Globalization is not going away, and the way a developed country with high wages competes is to be an endless innovator.

7. SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE — Government should be very careful when legislating morality. The separation of church and state is important to a democratic society as much for the church as for the government.

8. VETERANS AFFAIRS — We should take pride in those who have chosen to serve the country. These brave men and women make everything else possible. We need to make sure their service is reciprocated. It is the responsibility of our military to defend this country, and it is the responsibility of the rest of us to develop a nation worth defending.

The structure of the Georgia Modern Whig Party can be found here.

They also have a related blog:

Uncommonly Common Sense
Thoughts and Solutions: The Georgia Modern Whig Way

---