[LS]

I only have a slight disagreement with Jim about the Dems, and it is this: they didn't "become" evil and corrupt. The Dem. Party, if you understand its history (and not the Schlesinger myth written to make you THINK you know what it is about) was created to AVOID discussion the immoral issue of slavery. Martin Van Buren and William Crawford feared a civil war in 1820, and thus developed a program to reward people through JOBS to in essence shut up about slavery. Democrats dutifully passed the "gag rules" in Congress that prohibited even introducing a resolution that addressed slavery in any way.

The Dems' origins were both fundamentally evil---because one way or another they supported slavery---but also because they inherently ENSURED "BIG GOVERNMENT" by the patronage system, wherein government would expand with every election as people gave away jobs to get elected.

The Whigs were no better, as they had no "official" position on slavery. Only the Republicans---for all their flaws---stated unequivocally their opposition to slavery. They may have advocated new "big government" programs, but their MORAL stand was clear and unchanging, just as today, the GOP is the only party to take a clear pro-life stand.

[IronJack]

Only the Republicans---for all their flaws---stated unequivocally their opposition to slavery.

Actually, I think the Republicans' platform resisted the EXPANSION of slavery (primarily into Kansas and Nebraska Territories). They were less strident in their criticism of the existing institution, although certainly more grounded in their opposition than the Whigs had been. Lincoln, for example, never ran on an abolitionist platform, even though his newly formed Republican Party was founded or encouraged by the William Lloyd Garrisons of the era.