The Life of the Party

A recent informal poll of the Massillon Review staff asked them to rank America's best presidents of the past 50 years.

The non-scientific results placed Ronald Reagan at the top of the list. According to Review staffers, Reagan ushered in an era of American exceptionalism.

He cut taxes, unleashed prosperity, and set forth the policies that allowed our country to win the Cold War. If there was room on Mount Rushmore for one more president, The Gipper would make a fine choice.

But, as much as we are Ronald Reagan fans, we realize he is probably not the first choice of most partisan Democrats. We believe they would opt for, well, for more 'Democratic' choices, such as Truman, Kennedy, or even Bill Clinton.

When queried this past Saturday by The Independent newspaper as to the political leader 'Democratic' mayoral candidate J. David Ress most admired, he chose Ronald Reagan.

"Ress said Ronald Reagan, who was a Republican, is a political leader he has always looked up to."

Odd choice for a Democratic political candidate.

Except that Ress isn't a Democrat.

And according to the Catazaro-from-Perry campaign, he never was.

At least not for "decades."

And "decades" is a pretty long time.

Which adds credence to the argument that J. David Ress is merely a stalking horse for our Once and Future Mayor for Life, The Extraordinary One, King Francis the Eternal.

And that Ress is running in Tuesday's Democratic Primary election merely to soften up the current mayor, so that The Extraordinary One will have an easier path back to the mayor's office, now that he has issued his Declaration of Independence.

If J. David is an Independent voter, he should have run for mayor as an Independent.

If J. David is a Republican voter, he should have run for mayor as a Republican.

What is clear is that he is not a Democratic voter, so one must really consider his motivation for running as a Democrat.

What motivated him to join the Democratic Party, at least for this Tuesday?

We assume his motivation was extraordinary.