Whig Party National Conference

[ZuWo]

I like your plan and your logos. Maybe we as conservatives can continue the discussion of what path we would like to purse in the "Right to Life Caucus" thread?

[ZuWo]

I really like this platform. Once the RPP dissolves, I may join the CPA!

Fellow members of the Right to Life Caucus, wouldn't it be a good idea to join this new party?

[ZuWo]

I can support that policy though I would be on the hawk side... I  thing the Whig Party would be a better name... Communitarian sounds a bit strange

Too close to "communist", huh?

I don't care about the name of that party at all. I just want to join a conservative party, and I like the platform Simfan has proposed.

[ZuWo]

-That gay and lesbian Atlasians are the equals of their heterosexual counterparts, but tradition must be considered

Bullsh-t

Take that last part out, and this becomes very tempting for me.

I suggest the following: Let's not bother with the wording of every single clause of the party's platform yet. Let's first decide if the general idea to form such a conservative party is a good idea, and once we settled that question we can still vote on specifics of the platform.

[ZuWo]

I heard the suggestion of "Whig" party mentioned. Sounds much better than communitarian. When I hear "Communitarian", I imagine some nice cozy little welfare state somewhere in Europe, very small and very insignificant and with a decidedly leftist tilt. My mental image for "Whig" is Henry Clay or Abe Lincoln wading through the mud stoidly in Kentucky or something, charging boldly and ruggedly ahead in the wilderness, fighting for internal improvements and other stuff. Whig is much better.

Seeing as the RPP is dissolving, I'll put this on my list of parties I'm consider joining.

Communitarianism is an ideology that stresses the importance of the community as an organic social unit, and advocates moral values and tradition.

Parties arent named after their ideology usuually or we would have the Conservative and Liberal parties, not the Republican and Democratic parties. A Whig Party could have a communitarian ideology

I'm totally fine with the Whig Party- but we can see at a convention.

Do we have the registered members to hold convention now?

I'd say we should wait for more members to join the party before we hold a convention - if there are more people willing to join this party.

[ZuWo]

Fine, Ill join. There'll soon be an official announcement in my office.

xCathcon

Welcome, I'm glad to have you on board! Don't forget to make it official by registering in the "New Register Thread", though.

[ZuWo]

Yes. Do you have endorsements in mind?

I am not even sure what is up for election... I am still a newboy here

The regional Senate elections will be held.

These are the incumbents:

Pacific - bgwah
Midwest - Marokai
Mideast - MOPolitico
South - NCYankee
Northeast - Napoleon (will not run for re-election)

Personally, I'd endorse Marokai in the MW (very far away from us ideologically speaking but an active and dedicated Atlasian - plus there's no rightist in the MW anyway), MOPolitico in the Mideast (member of the Liberal Party but a pragmatic centrist who can work with people on the right and the left), Yankee in the South (the obvious choice).

But maybe there's a fellow communitarian who wants to run for a Senate seat? Note that with TJ in Cleve we already have 1 Senator.

[ZuWo]

Simfan for Senate?.... heh. In any case, I'm not sure that we should endorse people without their implicit approval... but I think that's a decent list.

I agree with that. Of course, those who want an endorsement from the CPA should actually care to ask our party for one. I propose we only endorse those candidates who are

1. worthy of our support and
2. are interested in our endorsement

Maybe the CPA endorsement is toxic in certain Atlasian regions, so each candidate is free to ask for our endorsement or not.

[ZuWo]

This is merely meant as a suggestion, but in case Yankee will not run for another term as Senator of the South, would any of our Southerners like to run for that seat? Clarence, for example? I mean, having one Senator (TJ) is nice, but if a realistic opportunity to gain more seats arises, we should at least give it a try.

[ZuWo]

MasterSanders, I agree with all but the third point- the cabinet should be able to trusted and able to consult the President. I also agree that abortions should be left to the regions, although I would like to see some kind of condemnation, even if (and preferably) a mild one.

Definitely, though I disagree with the wording "a mild one". A large wing of this party has emerged from the Right to Life Caucus, so the protection of the unborn must be one of our main goals, and the condemnation of abortion an unambiguous case.
I generally urge caution about adopting "moderate stances" in our platform. If we become vague in an attempt to reach out to as many voters as possible, we actually contravene the basic idea behind the mutual dissolution of the RPP and the JCP by laying the foundation for becoming the next big-tent party on the right.
This should be a socially and economically conservative party. We believe in our conservative values, so why should we try to hide or mitigate them?

[ZuWo]

I think if we make abortion, especially at the federal level, a top issue of this party, unfortunately, we'll be setting ourselves up for political suicide.

That may not be right, but that's how it is.

I don't think anyone wants to make it front and center. We just need to keep a plank that affirms our pro-life stance.

I got the indication from ZuWo that abortion should be one of our main concerns.

I think abortion can be an issue for the Right To Life Caucus to pursue, but not the party. That's how the RPP pretty much handled it.

I believe our opposition to abortion should be a central issue to this party in that we unequivocally state in our platform that we oppose it, but I agree that it is an issue we should handle at the regional level.

I guess nearly 100% of the party members are pro-life anyway, so we should communicate that to the Atlasian people. This ain't the RPP, we should not aim at becoming a big tent party.

[ZuWo]

I think if we make abortion, especially at the federal level, a top issue of this party, unfortunately, we'll be setting ourselves up for political suicide.

That may not be right, but that's how it is.

I don't think anyone wants to make it front and center. We just need to keep a plank that affirms our pro-life stance.

I got the indication from ZuWo that abortion should be one of our main concerns.

I think abortion can be an issue for the Right To Life Caucus to pursue, but not the party. That's how the RPP pretty much handled it.

I believe our opposition to abortion should be a central issue to this party in that we unequivocally state in our platform that we oppose it, but I agree that it is an issue we should handle at the regional level.

I guess nearly 100% of the party members are pro-life anyway, so we should communicate that to the Atlasian people. This ain't the RPP, we should not aim at becoming a big tent party.

ZuWo, I believe we could build a broad coalition if not a big tent if we present a bold platform of game reform. I agree with Isaac on pushing for.certain changes in the game, such as popular election of the vice president. As I mentioned earlier, an easier way to build multi-partisan coalitions on certain votes before the Senate would be to allow participants to be in several caucuses at once. We might create a sort of "Contract with Atlasia," showcasing our proposals to fix the system.

I totally agree with your stance on game reform. I, too, support a separate election of the Vice President and would like to allow people to be members of several caucuses. Indeed, I believe game reform should be an important plank of our party. I just want to make sure we don't deny our conservative views on issues such as abortion just because most Atlasians disagree with us on them. Our pro-life stance should appear in our platform, that's all I am asking for.

[ZuWo]

With all due respect, I have severe problems then being in a party that's focusing hard on social issues - I think it is a mistake, and its alienating a lot of people from the party. I wasn't under the impression this would be a "far-right" party, Atlasia-speaking.

We're talking about the issue of abortion here and discuss whether we should mention it in our platform or not. To my knowledge, there is no one in this party who is pro-choice. Why should we not state our opposition in the platform, then? Should we just keep quiet about our pro-life stances because we are afraid of alienating people outside of the party? I'm not saying abortion should be our sole concern, not at all. But it should be stated that a clear majority (if not everyone) in the party opposes abortion.

Additionally, there are numerous people outside of the Whig-Communitarian Party - my running mate is an example - who are pro-life as well. Opposition to abortion, while a minority stance in Atlasia, is not that "far right".

[ZuWo]

Yeah, almost everyone here is pro-life, but we're not going to be able to expand as much as we want to with a focus on this issue. I with the Right To Life caucus just just focus on it, and not let it be part of the national platform. I didn't win my Presidential election (one of the only social conservatives to do so) by focusing on social issues - I won by my charm and focus on game reform and economics.

How much do "we" want to expand? If we attempt to become a party like the RPP which attracts basically everyone ranging from people on the far-right to centrists and even libertarians, we won't do the dissolution idea any favor. On the contrary, the goal of the dissolution process was to create smaller and ideologically more closely defined parties. That's why our platform should be meaningful and we must take a clear stand on the issues.

The national platform should represent all wings (Right to Life and Game Reform) of the party. Not including the issue of abortion in the platform would make as much sense as not including game reform issues.

[ZuWo]

I propose, since we have Clarence as a Whig Senator, to begin drafting a formal platform.

I agree, and I suggest we take up Simfan's draft that he posted on the first page and change it wherever a majority of party members think it is necessary:

We, the members of the Communitarian Whig Party, desirous of the advancement of the state of Atlasia, our country, and the preservation of its society, believe:

-That the foundation of a democratic, peaceful, and prosperous society is the family and community.
-That we simultaneously re-affirm the idea of personal responsibility, aided via the community.
-That the greatest long-term crisis facing Atlasia today is the decline of social capital and community, which shall eventually come to harm that democratic, peaceful, and prosperous society we enjoy.
-That greatest power in the land is not the State, whether Federal or Regional, but instead the community and the individual.

-That the government is not the arbiter nor origin of economic growth, but rather a force than can and should be used to assisted the marketplace in its growth, in the interests of community and the nation.
-That the model of free and unrestricted two-way trade is the optimal model for trade between nations
-That the government is, by nature, the power that can best provide certain resources and services to society.
-The government should regulate trade and industry to maximize social equity, while in a manner that does not impede the normal functioning of the economy
-That welfare is meant to temporarily assist, not provide for, the people

-That Atlasia must be mindful of its being the world's foremost power
-That military conflict, in general, is counter to the well-being of man and thus must be avoided unless necessary
-That diplomacy, not warfare, is the cornerstone of foreign relations
-That multilateralism and collective security- a community of nations- is the best way to advance Atlasia's interests abroad
-That the goals set out in foreign interventions must be achieved.

-That the maintenance of tradition is an integral part of society
-That the concepts of "rights" and "entitlements" must be balanced by an awareness of responsibilities obligations to others
-That the life of all must be defended, and so both executions and abortion must be made rare
-That the promotion of culture and science is an integral function of society and its organizations.

[ZuWo]

Shall we have a vote on the Chair of the Party? Pingvin is the only interested candidate.

[ZuWo]

I think it's about time for the party to vote on the platform, the bylaws and the Chair/Vice Chair. Regarding the bylaws, here's the bylaws TJ drafted for the "Right to Life Caucus":

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We should amend these bylaws to a certain extent, but I think it serves as a good model for our party bylaws.

[ZuWo]

Here's a suggestion for our party bylaws (I removed the "honorary member" clauses from the draft and replaced the term "caucus" by "party"):

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Comments?

[ZuWo]

I have no formal authority to do that, but since the Whig Party should finally get a clear structure, I hereby call for a vote of the Chair and Vice Chair as well as the bylaws. If someone disagrees with my semi-legal activity, please complain. I suggest the vote shall last for 5 days.

Chair:

[ ] Pingvin
[ ] Write-in: ____________________

Vice Chair:

[ ] ZuWo
[ ] Write-in: ____________________

Bylaws*:

[ ] Yes
[ ] No

*

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[ZuWo]

Chair:

[1] Pingvin
[ ] Write-in: ____________________

Vice Chair:

[1] ZuWo
[ ] Write-in: ____________________

Bylaws*:

[1] Yes
[ ] No

[ZuWo]

Voting has ended.

Pingvin has been elected Chair of the Whig Party.

ZuWo has been elected Vice Chair of the Whig Party.

The bylaws have been accepted.

[ZuWo]

Congrats, Pingvin. I am optimistic that despite your election our party is not going to plunge into fascism.

I suggest we proceed now with a debate and, eventually, a vote on the party's platform.

[ZuWo]

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As a reminder, this is the platform Simfan has written. Please have a look at it and comment. Is there anything you aren't happy with here? Does anything have to be changed, corrected, specified etc.?

[ZuWo]

I have no objection to the line proposed by clarence.

[ZuWo]

"We recognize the Judeo-Christian tradition as the primary moral foundation of our society and the positive role of religion should be acknowledged and respected by the government".

I like that, and I doubt such a statement could be part of the platform of any other Atlasian party. I think the Whig Party is basically the only Atlasian party that still holds traditional Christian values in high esteem (though some members of the Imperial Bloc may think similarly in that respect).

And regarding climate change and alternative energy, I think TJ's comment summarizes my own stance neatly but of course I can't speak for the other Whig members. That's why we need this debate, our party needs to settle on a common environmental policy.