Thanks neverdem. The Whigs peaked and then withered, but were characterized by idealogical and personal rancor. Rather than characterizing the Pubbies (although it more than characterizes political *websites* throughout the spectrum), I think the Whig pattern is what’s about to take place with the Demagogic Party. I don’t think they’ve quite peaked yet, because Obama is about to buy some time among fence-sitters by pretending to be a foreign policy president. His claims that his administration of a-holes is going to impose a buttload of sanctions on Iran over its nuke program are total crap, and will not be implemented; instead, he, Mitchell, and Hitlery are going to start blood-libelling Israel.
I don’t see either party whigging out. Neither is sufficiently torn apart by strife approaching the level of the Whigs who were split over the overriding issue of slavery.