Today’s Quiz—The New Whig Party—a Party for the Mild-Mannered—Where are their poll Numbers?

Posted by Kendall Harmon

Here is the way the WSJ front page article on the new party opens--

This year, an anti-Washington mood is opening doors to novice candidates from right and left who speak to the ire coursing through the electorate. The Modern Whigs, a start-up party with a venerable name, are trying to tap an even more elusive force: the angry moderate.
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Here is the question: Jeff Vanke, the new Whig candidate running for Congress in Roanoke, Virginia, is how far behind the Republican incumbent at present? Please guess without peaking.



Filed under: * Culture-WatchPsychology* Economics, PoliticsPolitics in GeneralHouse of Representatives* International News & CommentaryAmerica/U.S.A.

11 Comments
Posted August 24, 2010 at 6:26 am [Printer Friendly] [Print w/ comments]



1. Ad Orientem wrote:

I don’t see a link so I have no idea how far behind he is.  But with the Democrats going off the leftward edge of the political spectrum and the GOP being taken over by Protestant Evangelical theocrats and weird conspiracy nut jobs I would vote for a Whig in a New York minute.  This country desperately needs a moderate center-right party that can act as a rational opposition to Zero’s left wing agenda.  And right now we don’t have one.

August 24, 1:09 pm | [comment link]
2. Ad Orientem wrote:

FYI
The home page of the Modern Whig Party.  I foresee an imminent change in my political affiliation.

August 24, 1:26 pm | [comment link]
3. John Wilkins wrote:

They don’t have a chance.  By and large, the language of the country is that Keynesianism - once espoused by Rockerfeller, Nixon and Eisenhower, is currently considered socialist. 

Whigs who believe in “good government” will have to confront a party on their right who actively believe that all government is evil, and make it so incompetent that people try to destroy it.  If you believe in good government, you’ve left the party and been forced to become a Democrat.  Notice how Bartlett, David Frum, and Richard Posner and the like have been crucified or ignored.

August 24, 2:55 pm | [comment link]
4. Kendall Harmon wrote:

He’s 59 points behind per the article

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703846604575447623205761174.html

August 24, 6:38 pm | [comment link]
5. Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) wrote:

Listen, folks ... there’s one—and only one—long term sustainable American political position:

a) Strong on defence and security
b) Fiscally very conservative
c) Socially more or less libertarian

Get that right and you’ll be in power for a long time. Mess it up, and people will be seriously pissed off.

August 24, 8:44 pm | [comment link]
6. Sarah wrote:

RE: “Protestant Evangelical theocrats and weird conspiracy nut jobs . . . “

Can’t wait for those who Ad Orientem deems to be the above get to lead.

His words, of course, reveal the chasm between the two sides.  It’s good to see—good to have the clarity.

RE: “a party on their right who actively believe that all government is evil, and make it so incompetent that people try to destroy it . . . “

Right—because heaven knows that the Ruling Party in the House, the Senate, and the Presidency hasn’t succeeded in demonstrating in spades the utter incompetence, not to mention crawling corruption of a power-hungry, grossly bloated State.  No no—that must be “made” to happen by conservatives. 

Tee hee.

August 24, 9:19 pm | [comment link]
7. Ad Orientem wrote:

The problem is that philosophically there is little difference between the Democrats and the Republicans.  They both are big government statist parties that want tell everyone how to live their lives.  The only real difference is which aspects of your life the parties want to focus on.  Both parties have demonstrated an enormous willingness to bankrupt the country in order to finance their respective agendas (national health insurance vs empire).

And yes, for the record those who believe that Barrack Obama is some sort of Kenyan born Muslim infiltrator unlawfully installed as President as the result of a vast conspiracy dating back to 1962 are indeed tin foil hat nut jobs (or worse).

August 24, 9:42 pm | [comment link]
8. Sarah wrote:

RE: “They both are big government statist parties that want tell everyone how to live their lives.”

Well, there is a difference in degree—one wants to have a megopolis State and the other a little bit smaller than megopolos.  As I’m a part of neither party it doesn’t matter to me.  I’m looking forward to those whom those on the other side of the chasm deem to be Protestant Evangelical theocrats and weird conspiracy nut jobs being in charge.

RE: “those who believe that Barrack Obama is some sort of Kenyan born Muslim infiltrator unlawfully installed as President as the result of a vast conspiracy dating back to 1962 are indeed tin foil hat nut jobs (or worse). . . . “

[giggle . . . yawn . . . hic!]

; > )

August 24, 9:46 pm | [comment link]
9. John Wilkins wrote:

Actually, Sarah, considering the obstructionism of the opposing party, I think Obama’s not doing a bad job.  Correcting 20 years of incompetence is hard to do in 18 months. 

I’m impressed Sarah thinks Obama could have corrected it so quickly.  She must have had high hopes for him.

August 24, 10:54 pm | [comment link]
10. Sarah wrote:

RE: “She must have had high hopes for him.”

My high hopes—high *expectations* in fact—have been beautifully fulfilled.  He has performed precisely as I believed he would and in accordance with his ideology.

Frankly, though, even I could not have predicted such catastrophic and epic fail.  It’s Jimmy Carter II on roids—and Jimmy Carter was another whose rule was a beautiful demonstration of the utter incompetence, not to mention crawling corruption of a power-hungry, grossly bloated State.  Heh—he made “it so incompetent that people try to destroy it . . . “  ; > )

August 25, 8:04 am | [comment link]
11. Larry Morse wrote:

The trouble is, we NEED the new party to succeed. Both established parties have grown geriatric, parkinsonian, as you can tell by the bill-rolling action of their thumb and forefinger when they get near the till. Their rigidity and parochialism reminds me too much of American public education. We need the new party precisely as we need charter schools.  Larry

August 25, 8:23 am | [comment link]
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