John DiGreggorio – 2/17/08

This page was last updated on February 17, 2008.

McCain an appealing candidate; John DiGreggorio; Beaver County Times; February 17, 2008.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“As a progressive voter, I could not be more content with the field of candidates remaining in the presidential race. Naturally, I am pleased with the choices on the Democratic side.”

[RWC] I don’t know how much – if any – of this letter is serious and how much – if any – is Mr. DiGreggorio’s attempt at humor.

“More surprising to me has been the Republican race. I am ecstatic that the Republicans have finally shunned the serpent-handling wing of their party by offering us U.S. Sen. John McCain.

“I agree with conservative Eric Cooper’s assertion in his Wednesday letter ‘No compromising on McCain’ that McCain’s 83 percent lifetime conservative rating means nothing.

“Granted, I do not agree with McCain on his positions regarding the war in Iraq, but I am in agreement with many, if not most, of the other votes and views he has taken on domestic issues in the past eight years.”

[RWC] Sure.

“It is awfully rare for a liberal like me to agree with a Republican presumptive nominee on so many fronts. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Republican primary voters for hoisting upon us a man who does not represent the fringes of the American right.”

[RWC] At least Mr. DiGreggorio gets points for admitting progressives and liberals are the same thing. Now if we can get them to admit they’re socialists.

“I tend to disagree with conventional wisdom that the Democrats will sail to victory in November. I feel fairly certain that the Republican propaganda machine (Fox ‘News’, talk radio, Sinclair Broadcasting, etc.) will trot out the fear/hatred card like they traditionally do in even-numbered years. (‘The gays are coming,’ ‘The Muslims are coming’ and, most recently, ‘The Mexicans are coming.’)”

[RWC] Let’s look at the Democrat side. They bring out the “fear/hatred” card in the form of “The heterosexuals are coming,” “The rich are coming,” “The whites are coming,” “The religious are coming,” et cetera. The only people Democrats don’t appear to worry about are illegal aliens, Islamofascists, et cetera.

Regarding the “Republican propaganda machine” comment, a survey by Hillary Clinton’s campaign found Fox News treated her more fairly than MSNBC (practically DNC-TV).

“Sadly, these scare tactics tend to work rather effectively on the dumbed-down American electorate, which will benefit McCain.”

[RWC] Translation: You have to be dumb to vote for a Republican. Gee, how original, as if we haven’t heard that one before.

“That being said, at least we progressives can be certain that we will not be inaugurating a complete ideological opposite on Jan. 20, 2009. Thanks again, Republicans. You have completely surprised me and made me less dreadful of November.”

[RWC] I’ll go out on a limb and make an assumption. Regardless of all the glowing comments Mr. DiGreggorio wrote about Mr. McCain, he wouldn’t vote for Mr. McCain short of someone holding a gun to his head. Liberals will vote for real liberals over Democrat lite every time.