Peoria Pundit

Editor’s note: I learned about the Modern Whig Party quite by accident. I recalled the name from dusty old high school history textbooks, mainly as the party that broke up and whose members, including Illinois’ own Abraham Lincoln, created the Republican Party.

I checked out their Website, fully expecting to find it to be yet another group that thought the Republicans weren’t conservative enough, or that the Democrats weren’t liberal enough, or perhaps a guy in his basement promoting conspiracy theories.

What I found was a group of people who didn’t hate the government, but who just wanted it to work better. Their ideas didn’t seem revolutionary, but founded in common sense and a respect for the law and individuals. And no conspiracy theories.

The group is just a few months old, and they have 10,000 members, chapters in 12 states and just recently issues a call for candidates to run in state and local elections in 2009.

I was intrigued enough to contact National Chairman Mike Lebowitz and ask him a few questions.

Billy Dennis for Peoria Pundit: The Modern Whig Party is very new. Can you tell me the circumstances regarding how this new party was formed? And what makes this party to attractive to veterans?

Mike Lebowitz: First off, I wanted to thank you for your interest in the Modern Whig Party. It is something that I am personally proud of and am very interested to see how far we can take it.

The actual idea of the Modern Whig Party, in terms of strategy and focus, originated in Iraq. I was serving as a paratrooper with the Pathfinder Company of the 101st Airborne Division. My unit’s mission was to go after high-value targets ie terrorist/insurgent leaders, masterminds and financiers. We had quite a reputation for being successful as well. But as most soldiers will tell you, there also is a lot of time to think and ponder while on a deployment. While some unfamiliar with military culture may stereotype soldiers as mindless conservative grunts, I will vehemently counter that some of my most enlightening and engaging political discussions have been among soldiers. One such discussion related to the history of the historic Whig Party. While the old Whigs focused on domestic issues, they also had a very strong military tradition. Upon returning home, a number of recent combat veterans and I took this military tradition and organized the Modern Whig Party initially as a military and veterans’ advocacy organization. For example, we helped organize a well-attended rally in support of our troops in suburban Cleveland.

Around this time, I also was making a name for myself as an attorney in Washington, DC. I ended up practicing at the well-connected DC law firm of Greenberg & Lieberman where I have taken on some high-profile cases in both intellectual property, media law and military law. These experiences put me in direct contact with a group of high-ranking military brass and political types who apparently also wanted to see a mainstream and moderate revival of the old Whig Party. Soon after, myself and our executive committee were chosen with a national headquarters in DC, with my longterm strategy cited as key to our potential success. As in building a law practice, our first phase was to establish ourselves in a niche form which to later expand. That niche was people affiliated with the military as we not only say we support them, but will do whatever actual action we can on their behalf. Word of mouth among the military eventually caught the Pentagon’s attention due to the fact that the military is supposed to be apolitical, and the Modern Whig Party was ultimately featured in the Military Times newspapers. Now we have about 6,500 people affiliated with the military ranging from private to brigadier general.

PP: Most “third parties” revolve around an ideology of some sort. The Modern Whigs are by description pragmatic. Is there any ideology behind the Modern Whigs?

Lebowitz: If anything, our ideology is really based on pure common sense and rational thinking. Our goal from the beginning was to avoid falling into the same traps of all the other third parties. Those organizations tend to end up believing their own propaganda as they sit and wait for the American voter to merely wake up and realize that this particular ideology is what they have always needed. In the end, all these groups become marginalized as they bring out candidate after candidate who we all know is going to lose. We are different by catering to those independent-minded voters who want a political party to call home. And the reality is that most people find themselves agreeing with certain Republican issues and also with certain Democratic issues. In the end, the system is polarized as one or two prime issues force these voters to pick an ideological side that likely is far to the left or right of their actual personal values.

PP: Does the use of the name “Whig” denote an adoption of the things the original Whigs stood for?

Lebowitz: The “Whig” name is associated with American history and tradition. The old Whig Party was mainstream and middle-of-the-road during its time. It are those general aspects of rational thinking and common sense that we adopt in terms of the old Whig Party. But we do stress that we are the “Modern” Whig Party. We recognize that we live in a different time. In fact, the original Republican Party were the liberals and the Democracts were the conservatives, and obviously that changed. In our case, the Modern Whig platform generally relates to fiscal responsibility, strong national defense and bold social progression.

PP: There’s a saying that pops up in politics: “Going the way of the Whigs.” And there are other parties out there that use use the name “Whig,” and at least one of them is openly anti-Semitic and advocates conspiracies theories. There’s also at least TWO musical groups than use “Whigs” in their name. The question is: Are you afraid of confusing people?

Lebowitz: There also is a saying that “history repeats itself.” If we can do this right, what’s to say that the Modern Whig Party strategy will not succeed? As for confusion with other “Whigs,” I am not too concerned. The Modern Whig Party is the only credible political organization using the Whig moniker. There are two or three people who operate “Whig” Web sites advocating conspiracy theories and rant against the Jews. In fact, their leader personally attacked me with a highly anti-Semitic rave. By behaving like that, I think their own actions and lunacy speaks for itself. I will add, however, that I certainly support their right to say these things and have no problem with them. As for the Whigs bands, if people are looking for good music, they will find them. If they are looking for a mainstream, non-fringe, middle-of-the-road political party, they will find us.

PP: Why the use of the owl as a mascot?

Lebowitz: The owl mascot just kind of happened. To be honest, my first choice was the aardvark because it was creative and has the ears of a donkey and the rear of an elephant. But the guy that designed our Web site couldn’t find a silhouette to make an aardvark symbol look good, so we ended up with the owl.

PP: Is there enough dissatisfaction among “moderates” and “centrists” to the Republican and Democratic parties for there to be a demand for a party like the Modern Whigs?

Lebowitz: I should point out that not all of our members would classify themselves as moderate or centrist. We have many members who are conservative and we also have many members who are liberal. I think it is a testament to our organization that people from all over the political spectrum can find common ground under the Modern Whig movement. What we have found is that even though someone is socially liberal, they also may be very conservative when it comes to other issues. Same for our conservative members. This goes back to our theory that most people find themselves cherry-picking between issues of both major parties, but ultimately end up on one side of the fence. As for the demand for an organization like ours, I think the fact that in just a few months, we have grown to a modest 10,000 members solely based on word-of-mouth and without any financing or big-names is proof that there is some sort of demand. The key for us is to remain committed to appearing normal and mainstream as opposed to kooky. Another element to look at is the diversity of our members. Our state leaders include retired Vietnam veterans, Iraq/Afghanistan veterans, attorneys, college students, a retired CEO, a prominent rock musician, teachers and many others.

PP: As of this writing, you have some 10,000 members and chapters in 12 states. Can you tell me a little about the party’s plans/expectations for growth? If someone wants to contribute, where can they send their cash/checks?

Lebowitz: Our plan from the beginning is to operate methodically and gradually. The Modern Whig Party leadership is comprised of people who are not deluded into thinking that we are somehow entitled to members. We also are not deluded into thinking that the majority of voters are ready to take that plunge and actually vote for a third party, let alone a group called the “Whigs.” We understand the reality, and perhaps that is our biggest asset. As we grow, our name will slowly filter back into the mainstream mentality. Our longterm strategy is nuanced but includes initially running a few candidates who are members of the Modern Whig Party but will initially run on the Democratic and Republican tickets. The plan is to run a few candidates on state and local ballots in 2009 and then support three candidates for Congress in 2010. If our members can win a few during this time, while at the same time our membership ranks continue to rise, we will have accomplished a winning track record from which to really make our move. We believe that we need to be innovative in order to succeed as we know the odds are stacked against us. But nothing ever came out of doing nothing.

As for contributions, in a way we are experimenting with novel approaches of fundraising so that we don’t have to hit people up for money. But our Web site at http://www.modernwhig.org does briefly mention that people can send checks to our headquarters, with the promise of complete transparency. I imagine a PayPal option also will be up soon as well.

PP: Any likely volunteers to run for office under the Whig banner?

Lebowitz: We do have some very qualified people throughout the country that have expressed an interest in running for office. Many have offered to run specifically under the Modern Whig Party banner, but I think it is more realistic in the near future for them to run on a major ticket to have a chance at winning. Candidates under the Whig banner will come later.

PP: What concerns to you have about the nation’s unbalanced petition signature requirements?

Lebowitz: The petition issues are a hindrance to some degree. This is why our strategy and tactics are designed to circumvent such issues. The Modern Whig Party isn’t about complaining and pointing out problems, but focuses more on solutions and action that are realistic and amenable to mainstream America.

This entry was posted on August 24, 2008 at 8:38 pm and is filed under Uncategorized with tags ballot access, modern whig party, Third Parties, whigs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed Both comments and pings are currently closed.