Care to Try on the Whigs?

Tired of this whole two-party system? Want a third-party alternative that's not some johnny-come-lately to the political process? Want to join the party of William Henry Harrison? Then the Modern Whigs just may be for you.

A group of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have tried to revive the Whig party, which had its heyday from the 1830s to the 1850s. The new version is based on the notion that the Democrats and Republicans have pushed partisan bickering to extremes, and that the political market is ripe for a common-sense centrist alternative.

Party leaders say their core values are fiscal responsibility, energy independence, education/scientific advancement, state responsibility, social progression ("government should refrain from legislating morality") and advocacy for veterans.

The party, re-launched a couple of years ago, had hoped to be fielding a slate of congressional candidates by this year. But the Wall Street Journal reports that process has proved to be harder than it looks. Only one candidate, Jeff Vanke of Roanoke, Va., is running under the Whig banner this year. And he's 59 points behind incumbent Republican Rep. Bob Goodlatte in the polls.