Dr. Cynic
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Posts: 12,515
Political Matrix
E: -4.11, S: -6.09
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« on: January 29, 2014, 07:22:11 PM » |
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The election of 1826 again did not provide a government, but saw a collapse of Workers Party support. It became pretty plain early on that Clinton and the Workers Party, now reduced to 17 seats, were not willing to prop up either a Whig government or a Liberty government led by Henry Clay.
Clay, having felt that forming a government was paramount, offered to join a Van Buren coalition. Van Buren became Prime Minister and Clay Deputy PM. With such a small group in opposition, Van Buren passed most of his reforms including labor restrictions and loathe to roll back popular Liberty programs, Van Buren instead shifted, as he had the ability to do, to a new issue. Squatter Rights had become a minor issue in many states and Van Buren looked to gain some political capital by solving the issue. Squatters had no rights to the land that was not necessarily settled. Clay went along with this, thinking it no major issue, but the results caused a firestorm of protest that had been hitherto unexpected. The Liberty Party threatened to withdraw support from Van Buren if he passed the bill. Clay was taken aback by the reaction of his party and tried to play mediator again, however, Liberty's left-wing found this an unacceptable violation of their beliefs in an egalitarian and expansive society. Though the moderate wing of Liberty had no problem setting limits on just how far someone could go. Van Buren and Clay were both perplexed by this reaction and the Whigs tried to make threats to keep the insurgents in line, which they ultimately refused to do and broke off in 1827.
The Liberty Party also in effect sacked Clay as their party leader and he and the moderate faction refused to leave the coalition government. 42 Liberty Representatives stayed loyal to Clay and were in effect blackballed. The Liberty Party met to choose a new leader and selected William Wilkins, the Representative for Pittsburgh West by a very slim margin over Silas Wright. Liberty reasserted their independence and though they could not bring the government down, they formed an effective Official Opposition and Wilkins, with his wild mane of hair, railed against Van Buren and Clay for having done something to infringe on America's expansive spirit. This would affect the poorest, was the argument Liberty made.
Clay and the moderates were stunned by events. Clay had been one of Liberty's foremost leaders going back to the Findley government. Not keen on joining the Whigs, the Clay faction formed their own political party that they christened the Alliance Party because they felt that their alliance was all that prevented chaos. They were liberals on most issues, but Clay surprised many with his now moderate tone on protectionism, long his pet issue. His reasoning was that he was attempting to appeal to a more nuanced view than Liberty or the Workers were. The Alliance Party struck to a centrist liberal course, though Clay's people emphasized that they weren't interested in holding the balance of power, but rather forming a government that could work with all sides.
The Workers suffered a blow in 1828 when DeWitt Clinton suddenly died and the seat was lost in a by-election to the Alliance Party. The Workers Party eventually folded into the Liberty Party as Wilkins' leadership was decidedly left wing on labor issues and immigration was a third-tier issue.
Van Buren and the Whigs conducted a calm campaign. They promised a lowering of tariffs, spending and to pay off the national debt. They also promised to stop squatters from claiming lands improperly. The major snag with the Whig campaign was Van Buren's image. It had gotten out how landlords had aided the Whigs in 1826 and many suspected that they had been acting under orders of the dandified and manipulative Van Buren.
So, what's it gonna be? America's a three party system, it seems.
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