Modern Whig Party has appeal to some troops
By William H. McMichael -
[email protected]Posted : June 23, 2008
A political platform of strong national defense and “bold social progression” is not a combination that commonly comes to mind when U.S. troops’ private views are considered.
But the Modern Whig Party, which claims that “about a third” of its 3,000 members are active or reserve service members, takes a consciously middle-of-the-road and independent stance.
“It’s starting to catch on,” said national chairman Mike Lebowitz, a Washington, D.C., attorney who is also a captain and judge advocate in the Army National Guard. “Our members, particularly in the military, they run the spectrum.”
In other words, the Modern Whig Party — re-launched last year, more than 150 years after its namesake ceased to be — somewhat reflects the findings of the year-end 2007 Military Times poll, in which 48 percent of respondents called themselves Republicans, 14.4 percent said they were Democrats and 21.1 percent described themselves as Libertarians.
When asked separately to describe their political views, 38.7 percent said moderate, 37 percent said conservative and 7 percent said liberal.
Lebowitz admits that “Modern Whig Party,” initially launched as a veterans’ group, is not the snappiest modern-day moniker.
It was chosen, he said, for its historical connection. The party was first formed in 17th-century England. The U.S. Whigs, Abraham Lincoln’s original party, were active from 1833-1856 and supported a strong Congress, protectionism and education.
The Modern Whig platform calls for giving federal funding in lump sums to each state, based on population; withdrawing from all of Iraq save for Kurdistan, which the U.S. could use as a counterterrorism platform; eliminating dependence on foreign oil; and offering illegal immigrants citizenship in return for military service, with deportation the only alternative.
The group, with a Web site at
www.modernwhig.org, is small not only in number: It has no candidates running for office and is registered as a political party only in Florida.