Lifelong Republican defends switch

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/hunter/480786,CST-NWS-hunter24.article

Cites attacks on trial lawyers, 'embarrassment' of Gonzales

July 24, 2007

Here is a letter I received from Jim Ronca, the man I described as a staunch Republican in a news story I wrote about five Democratic presidential candidates last week. The Democrats spoke at a convention of the American Association for Justice (a group of trial lawyers). He told me he was a Republican but was so fed up by the Bush White House that he was going to support and give money to Democrats. This truthful statement caused a huge reaction from demagogic Republicans who seemingly couldn't bear one of their own turning to the Dems. He and I have been receiving rude and hysterical e-mails for over one week.

Jennifer,

I am shocked by the response you got to your column. I have also gotten hate mail. I tried to call you but could not get through.

Let me assure you I am a lifelong Republican. I have been registered Republican since at least 1975 when my second cousin, Robert Butera, was the Republican leader of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and later Republican candidate for governor and recruited me to work for the Republican Caucus. During my tenure there I was one of the named plaintiffs in a suit against the Democratic governor filed by the Republican Caucus.

I have over the years supported numerous Republicans in Pennsylvania state races including Gov. Thornburgh, (later attorney general of the United States), Gov. Ridge (I distinctly remember being the host of a couple of fundraisers.) I have a picture of myself somewhere with Dan Quayle, when he was the vice presidential candidate and I attended a $1,000-a-plate fundraiser. I also supported Republican Supreme Court candidates (we elect our judges) and this very month attended meetings of the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association with a Republican Superior Court candidate as my guest. I have been appointed by U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter to a statewide committee which interviewed and recommended appointees to the federal bench (federal judges and U.S. attorneys).

Even though I am a long-term Republican I am not a fool. Naturally I opposed candidates like George W. Bush and Rick Santorum who have vilified plaintiffs trial lawyers. (Santorum was a particularly vicious hypocrite. His wife collected on a medical malpractice case much more than the limits he supported on other citizens.) I am proud of what I do and there is no way I would be stupid enough to support people who subscribe to the Karl Rove practice of shooting at the trial lawyers every chance they get. This was particularly true in Texas where trial lawyers were compared to bank robbers and gangsters in paid advertisements. Further I could never support Bush and would support his opponents because of the violence he has done to the law itself, especially with that embarrassment of an attorney general, Alberto Gonzales.

[Catch22Dem]

1. An old-school republican

Still respectable in my opinion. The new republican party is nothing but a sham. Not the party of Eisenhower.

[ikojo]

3. Republicans have always been the party of the moneyed

elite...I cannot support any manifestation of the Republican party.

Unfortunately the Democratic party is following in the pug party's footsteps in favoring those with money.

[fudge stripe cookays]

15. True.

Let's not forget HUAC and the resulting nightmare against, who else? Liberals. Where were those people coming from? McCarthy was a Republican too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCarthy

[LanternWaste]

4. I agree. My grandfather call would them 'Eisenhower Republicans'

I agree. My grandfather call would them 'Eisenhower Republicans'. Which is, I think a very apt sobriquet. Not quite as market oriented as the current crop while still respecting Social Security, Medicare, etc. as necessary institutions.

[SoCalDem]

8. and after Ike..Rockefeller Republicans

They were the party of the "bosses"..amd the dems were the party of "labor"

and now BOTH parties are the parties of LOBBYISTS...and that leaves NO ONE to represent the general public.

[YOY]

9. The kind you can debate with and discuss things. They can be swayed with logic

They don't pull out the "I'm more American than you." BS or call you a "Commie" despite the fact they have no idea what the f*** they are talking about in attempt to insult their way through winning any debate or discussion.

A thinker from the conservative school. I can respect him.

But Faux News watching bumblef*** rednecks who got their degree in Limbaughology and claim they know more about foreign politics despite having never left the continental US (let along speaking only 1 language...and not very well, I may add.): They can rot in hell. Maybe one day the hypocrisy will catch up to them...until them they can sit and spin in the shit mess they have created.

Sadly I believe the 30% (backwash) are comprised of the latter and not the former. The Former are maybe 10-20% of Americans.

[ikojo]

2. Good that the guy has come around to not supporting

GW Bush but he really doesn't come out against REPUBLICANS in general. He is against the Republican assault on trial lawyers (his chosen profession). Like a good Republican he is concerned about HIS pocket book. If the pugs suddenly started supporting trial lawyers, he'd probably switch again.

More than likely with such DEEP Republican roots this guy will gravitate to the DLC branch of the Democratic party and frankly there are already too many DLC type Dems.

[LaurenG]

5. I didn't know this about Santorums wife...

...I opposed candidates like George W. Bush and Rick Santorum who have vilified plaintiffs trial lawyers. (Santorum was a particularly vicious hypocrite. His wife collected on a medical malpractice case much more than the limits he supported on other citizens.)

x(

[bleedingheart]

6. that tidbit was one of the many reasons people hated Santorum

and his "do as I say...not as I do" behavior.

[zbdent]

7. Believe it or not, Carville had this tidbit in one of his books

which showed more of Sanitorium's hypocrisy, amongst other Repuke examples ...

[cascadiance]

10. I'm considering building a website of an index of "good" Republicans...

... and this guy is one I'd likely add to that list.

I'm thinking of building a web site as an index of a cornucopia of great current or one time Republicans such as Scott Ritter, Paul Craig Roberts, Russell Tice, John Dean, David Brock, and many others that would stress how they are trying to be honestly good citizens and do things for Americans and not duplicitous and corrupt partisan jerks like so many Republicans are today.

I'm thinking that if there can be this sort of image of many that would be a great set of people to work with down the road when we get a real democratic system back, even if we might disagree heavily on some issues they believe in.

Perhaps it would let those Republicans out there who feel "lost" out there and prone to manipulation by those still in office a beacon they can identify with where there are some that do merit respect, even if they switch over to being Democrat, independent, or in other ways working against the existing corrupt Republican Party until it regains its integrity (if ever).

There are some folks out there that will never be "liberal" or "progressive" the way we would want them to be, but who have a sense of ethics that probably feel mad as hell at their party right now. We need to offer them direction that it is OK to work with us at times now and work together with us to impeach these bums and repair the system with things like public campaign financing, etc. and other things that serve PEOPLE (whether they be Republican or Democrat) and not the special interests (corporate or otherwise) that control so much of Washington now.

I don't want to brutalize them, but tell them that these are the people to follow if they ever expect us to be "bipartisan" again in working with "the other party" (whatever that party may be in the future). We need to isolate the heinous corrupt neocons into a corner where noone will pay attention to them again!

[mwb970]

13. That sounds like a great idea.

If they won't rebuild their party, we will!

[Oak2004]

14. Would you be interested in doing it on a subdomain of exrepublicans.info?

I'm (painfully slowly-- I've got a lot to do for other websites with existing communities who yell loudly if their site isn't working) building a site for former Republicans at http://www.exrepublicans.info, and I'd be more than happy to host anything you might do. At the least, I'd like to link to it.

On a somewhat related note, if any of you know of links to ex- Republicans and Republicans still challenging party orthodoxy, I'd like to know of them for the site. I myself have settled down as a happy DU/Firedoglake/TPM/etc. etc. fellow traveler of the Democratic Party or something (gasp! even planning on attending Yearly Kos via Second Life), but a great many ex- Republicans are still lost, trying to reconcile conservativism and their loss of faith in the GOP, are going Libertarian, or are otherwise not entirely comfortable among Democrats. I need links to sites like that for the Ex- site.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

17. Wow, you think much bigger than I do!

A few names in here to add to your list... :)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1389705

[EVDebs]

11. By election time, like those R's in KS switching to D's, and Bloomberg

going "independent", anyone with the Scarlet Letter "R" next to their names on a ballot...

[Hamlette]

12. the best line from the letter

This campaign against you and me is ridiculous and I think evidence of how the Republican Party works. They make an effort to pressure journalists to print what they want and avoid what the Republican Party does not like. No free thinking or free press is allowed. They smear everyone who opposes them from big fish like Joe Wilson to small fries like me.

[Jade Fox]

16. Whenever I read something like this I....

think that the good thing that will come out of the Bush Administration years is that the GOP will have destroyed itself. All that will be left is the 30% or so percent who are hopeless, and the wealthy.