GOP Joke: Going the Way of the Whigs

You've never heard of the Whig Party in the US?

That's exactly the point.

But then, of course, they say that's not really going to happen.

Well, I bet the Whigs thought exactly the same.

The Whig party was the party that stood opposite the Democratic Party in the 1840s.

They lost most of their members, with some like Abe Lincoln joining a vehemently anti-immigrant party called the Know-Nothings, simply to get away from their dead end posturing.

Then the Republican party emerged from the Know Nothings and the two major parties we know today were set.

But now it might be all but over at least for dominance.

And again they can blame "dead end posturing" IMHO. 

Their "terrorist behind every bush so lets go invade something" act is wearing thin for Americans.

Excerpt Ap report "Leading Indicators Point Down for GOP":

It is gallows humor time for Republicans in Congress, where one lawmaker jokes that "there's talk about us going the way of the Whigs," the 19th century political party long extinct.

"That's not going to happen," Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., hastens to add, although a little more than a year before the 2008 election, the major leading political indicators still point downward for a party abruptly turned out of power in 2006.

Fundraising for Republican campaign organizations lags. That is strikingly so in the House, where the party committee spent more than it raised in each of the past two months, reported only $1.6 million in the bank at the end of August and a debt of nearly $4 million.

Democrats reported $22.1 million in the bank and a debt of slightly more than $3 million.

Candidate recruitment has been uneven, particularly in the Senate, where Republicans must defend 22 of the 34 seats on the ballot next year. Democrats boast top-tier challengers for GOP-held seats in Colorado, Virginia, New Hampshire, Maine, Minnesota and Oregon.

Republicans have yet to put forward a prominent challenger for any Democratic-held seat, although an announcement is expected soon in Louisiana.

Additionally, nine Republicans in the House and three in the Senate have announced plans to retire. Some of those leaving are in midcareer, when a departure often signals pessimism about the prospects for regaining the majority. Democratic retirements total two to date - both are House members who are running for the Senate.

tags: republicans  congress  political campaign coffers  

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