Chgo Sun-Times: Turning Big Dem Contributor into 'Staunch Republican'

NewsBusters.org ^ | 7/17/07 | Warner Todd Huston

[Mobile Vulgus]

Why is it that every time the MSM writes a story about a supposedly "staunch Republican" who is vocally supporting the opposing Party, we have to wonder of its veracity? Maybe it's because there always seems to be a few little problems with the claim of "staunchness" on the part of the MSM's favored Party hopper du jour? And in this case, the Chicago Sun-Times story titled "GOP lawyer sold on Dems" by Jennifer Hunter, we have no better assurances than we ever do that the claimed "staunch Republican" is either very "staunch" or very "Republican."

Sun-Times writer Hunter dug up a supposedly "staunch Republican" named Jim Ronca, a trial lawyer from Pennsylvania. Mr. Ronca, claims Hunter, is "certain of one thing: He is not going to vote Republican in the 2008 presidential election."

But there is more than that. He also says he'll financially support Democrats, and he makes this announcement as if this is somehow an earth shattering rebuke to the GOP, or so the Sun-Times wishes us to believe.

"I'm not only going to vote Democratic, I'm going to financially support the Democrats," Ronca said after a luncheon forum of the American Association for Justice, featuring Gov. Bill Richardson, Sen. Barack Obama, former Sen. John Edwards, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Joe Biden. "The Republicans in Washington are an embarrassment."

Well.... he told them, eh?

So this "staunch Republican" is now going to financially support the Democrats? This seems an about face for a Republican, doesn't it?

Unfortunately for the Sun-Times' attempt to make Ronca seem the dyed-in-the-wool Republican, Mr. Ronca has a long, long history of being a Republican who financially supports Democrats. In fact, a quick review of his public donation record proves that he almost never gives to a Republican at all. Out of the 10 candidates he's donated to, only two of them were Republicans... and one of those was Arlen Spector who hardly counts as a Republican in the first place! (One of the candidates he donated to I could not quickly identify the party affiliation. If anyone knows what party Bruce Bradley was in I'd appreciate the info.)

Some "staunch Republican" Ronca turns out to be!

Here are some of his political donations:

James R. Ronca
Schmidt, Ronca and Kramer

$1,000 Harris Wofford (Democrat, PA) 6/22/1994
$250 Charles Oberly (Democrat, PA) 10/3/1994
$500 Edward Kennedy (Democrat, MA) 11/16/1995
$250 Stewart Greenleaf (Republican, PA) 12/29/1999
$250 Patrick Casey (Democrat, PA) 6/3/2000
$500 Ron Klink (Democrat, PA) 6/13/2000
$500 Ron Klink (Democrat, PA) 9/15/2000
$500 Arlen Specter (Republican, PA) 11/5/2001
$500 Allyson Schwartz (Democrat, PA) 3/30/2004
$2,000 John Kerry (Democrat, MA) 5/27/2004
$500 Allyson Schwartz (Democrat, PA) 8/23/2005
$1,000 Bob Casey (Democrat, PA) 9/13/2006
$500 Bob Casey (Democrat, PA) 9/30/2005
$500 Bruce Bradley (?) 9/5/2006

Wow, thousands to Democrats, and pennies to the GOP. You know, the Party he is supposed to be a "staunch" member of?

Now, one might say that since Rona is a lawyer in Pennsylvania, he would have to support quite a few Democrats. After all, he is surrounded by them in Harrisburg and Philadelphia, right? All right, that might be a fair question. But that does not answer to why he has donated to a Massachusetts leftist (Teddy Kennedy) and supported the horribly leftist presidential candidate for the 2004 presidential election (John Kerry)? Maybe his support of local Democrats can be explained away, but not his support for lions of the left outside his state.

How many "staunch Republicans" do YOU know who would donate to Teddy Kennedy? I'd lay odds that such a creature is far and few between.

So, the claims that Jim Ronca is a "staunch Republican" doesn't hold much water and neither does the Sun-Times' story!

My last question is also a curiosity. We see these stories of so-called Republicans who are jumping ship to support the Dems all the time. Why is it that the MSM never sees fit to publish a story where Dems are jumping ship to go with the GOP? Did they get so discouraged with the Reagan Democrat that they vowed never to write such a story again?

It would seem so.

[NonValueAdded]

Busting newsbusters

One of the candidates he donated to I could not quickly identify the party affiliation. If anyone knows what party Bruce Bradley was in I'd appreciate the info.

Uh, did he try Googling "Bill Bradley"?

from Wikipedia:

William Warren "Bill" Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American hall of fame basketball player, Rhodes scholar, and former U.S. Senator from New Jersey and presidential candidate, who challenged Vice President Al Gore for the Democratic Party's nomination for President in the 2000 election.

Newsbusters does great work but that was a simple fact that would have made the score RATs 9, RINOs 1, and republicans 0.

[lowbridge]

Another article by Jennifer Hunter:

Chicago Sun-Times Touts ‘Republicans’ for Obama

Posted by Michael M. Bates on June 19, 2007 - 18:44.

In today’s Chicago Sun-Times, columnist Jennifer Hunter writes of:

“an interesting phenomenon that has arisen over the last few months: a trend of moderate Republicans who want to vote for Barack Obama. It may seem counterintuitive, conservatives supporting a candidate who wants to tax the wealthy and embrace the conventions in the Kyoto Accord, but there is something in Obama’s message about ridding politics of partisanship that is appealing to these Republicans.”

In the first sentence, moderate Republicans are backing Obama. By the next, they’ve become conservatives. You’d think Ms Hunter, who is married to the newspaper’s publisher, would know - as most people do - that moderate Republican isn’t synonymous with conservative.

Miss Hunter identifies three supposed Republicans now backing Barack Obama. The operative word here is supposed. One of the three voted for John Kerry in the last presidential election. Yet another says she didn’t vote for President Bush in 2004. There’s no indication as to how the other “Republican” voted in 2004.

Yes, it’s apparent those conservative Republicans are eagerly jumping on the Obama bandwagon. Just ask the mainstream media. They’re really on top of those interesting phenomena.

[JSDude1]

I find it hard to believe (except for a few examples like Mr. Ronca; that are really liberals and not republicans/conservatives anyway), that most disaffected republicans suddenly embrace socialism and radical social engineering and the Democratic party, most dissafeected Repubs usually either ‘drop’ out, go farther right ‘join the LP or CP’ or become and ‘Independent’; they know its far better to do this than abandon all the principles they have believed their whole life (and joined the socialist-marxist Democrats.)

[JSDude1]

I mean than join the Marxist-Lennist Democracts!

[Mobile Vulgus]

I’m sorry, WHY again would someone imagine that a BRUCE Bradley is really a Bill or Warren???????

I doubt you are right that BRUCE was really BILL.Every politically aware person knows who Bill Bradley is.

[Fido969]

Miss Hunter identifies three supposed Republicans now backing Barack Obama. The operative word here is supposed. One of the three voted for John Kerry in the last presidential election. Yet another says she didn’t vote for President Bush in 2004.

ha ha ha ha... BUSTED!

[Chi-townChief]

Republicans flip out over lawyer flap (SUN-TIMES NEWS-SKANK NAILED BY "RIGHT-WING WEB SITES")

[Mobile Vulgus]

What a whiner. I see she rally didn’t answer to her failure to investigate her story. She just whine that “well that’s what they TOLD me!”

[NHGOPer]

Well we’ll have plenty of D’s and I’s voting for Ron Paul, a real republican.

These people like this lawyer were what I call ‘Republicans of convenience’...they never were real — perhaps RINOs.