If Only the GOP Had Nominated the RINOs

The party’s hopes for taking the Senate in November come down to a handful of Trump-picked candidates who are all in closer races than they should be.

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I’m a fan of ironic nicknames: big men named “Tiny,” bald dudes who go by “Curly,” etc. But in politics there’s no nickname more ironic than RINO, short for “Republican in Name Only.”

Originally it was supposed to describe Republicans who went along with Democrats for political expediency. In the 1990s, when RINO really took off as a conservative epithet, it was usually aimed at either liberal Republicans like Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter or obnoxious Republicans who relished opportunities to break party ranks, also like Arlen Specter.

Today it basically just means “not MAGA” or “insufficiently Trumpy.”

And that’s the irony, because the so-called RINOs are pretty much the only politicians who actually care about the Republican Party.

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  1. Lisa Gibbs

    Yes to all of this.

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  2. Robert

    A long thread of comments here. I’d like to offer a different perspective on Donald Trump and the affinity of some voters for him.
    Many of us saw the 2012 presidential election as winnable: a persistently weak economy under Obama, the duplicity surrounding Obamacare, et al were serious vulnerabilities. Yet the gop nominee - Mitt Romney, a decent and honorable man btw - just couldn’t close the deal with voters.
    Fast forward to 2016 and many thought they needed a more aggressive approach toward the Democrats and their media supporters.
    Donald Trump was not perfect, we knew that. Neither was Hilary Clinton: not by a long shot.
    We held our noses and took the perceived lesser of two evils. Don’t forget that M Trump subsequently delivered some outstanding policy choices, choices we would not have realized from Ms Clinton.
    By 2020 Trump had displayed some deficiencies that were hard to overlook. But in all honesty, was Joe Biden a better choice? Now, almost two years later it’s difficult to find people who think we’re on the right track. Barack Obama’s reputed grim assessment “Never underestimate Joe’s ability to eff things up” seems a well used line.
    So I have to wonder: is there no better candidate from the Democrat side? Are there no better policy choices that Democrats support beyond the obvious failures we see from the Biden administration?
    This is not a tu quoque argument: when casting a vote one has to make a choice.
    Where is the better choice? Where is even a good choice?

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    Julie from Texas

    I still can't believe how many people I personally know who believe what Trump and his supporters say about elections, issues, and other Republicans—when all the while, I see them being scammed by con artists. That tidbit you shared about how much Trump has spent on elections versus his legal fees should be a wake-up call! But unfortunately, I'm not sure they'd even believe the information if I shared it, because in their minds, The Dispatch? Also RINOs, as they foolishly define it.

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    1. Robert

      Julie,
      There does seem to be a vocal group of adherents as you described.
      But blind belief in something not well supported by objective observation seems an enduring component of the human condition.
      We can only individually strive to be rational in our own judgements.

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  4. Jaybrown

    "the so-called RINOs are pretty much the only politicians who actually care about the Republican Party" The so-called RINOs are pretty much the only conservative voters who no longer care about the Republican Party.

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  5. L. McKee

    The NRCC called me not long ago and wanted not $10, not $25, not $50, but $300. But $250 would be OK if I couldn't manage $300. They got zip, but I was surprised at the amount requested. My husband gets lots of requests by email, and no matter who they're plugging, even DeSantis, Trump's name is at the bottom. It made me angry. I don't know if legally it's a con, but it feels like one.

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  6. AU_88

    "And pretty much any Republican capable of speaking in complete sentences would surely be doing better than Walker is doing right now in Georgia."

    But instead, I get to vote for a charlatan preacher rather than a brain-damaged wife-beater who plays Russian roulette.

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    Michael Eskridge

    We'd all be better off in the long run (I.e. 2024) if all of these Trump-supported candidates lost in November. That just might be enough to solidify Trump's rep as an unprecedented loser and keep him off the ballot in 2024. Sucks in the short run, but at least they'll be a long run.

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    RightWithReason

    The only problem I have with this piece is that it took so long for someone to say it. For a brief age of the world I've been shaking my head every time someone used the term RINO. It's irony in steroids. The man who uses it the most, who pretty much coined it in its current context, has never appreciated or approached what it means to be a Republican.

    So the biggest elephant in the room isn't even an elephant at all. He's the biggest of all rhinos. (See what I did there? 😁👍)

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  9. Val Xavier

    Reading some of the comments about a lack of ideological grounding, I'm reminded of the late Al Davis, the patriarch of the then Oakland now Las Vegas Raiders:

    "Just win, baby!"

    People want their values defended. We've come to a point in American Civil Society where the Trump side doesn't care how. They just want to win. Election after election they supported candidates who, in their view, sold them out. Most if not all Trump supporters feel victimized or at least sympathize with those who do. If you listen to what they say, what you hear is "yeah I know, BUT HE FIGHTS!" I'm not saying such "fighting" is the correct thing to do. But, frankly, I kinda felt like McCain and Romney did poor jobs of defending traditional institutions and they got run over, I suspect because they were simply afraid of being labeled "racist." Opposing Obama's policies are not racist, and we've lost our ability to conduct civil debate because of the tactics one side uses to undermine the other.

    So, for a critical mass of people, they found someone who would get down in the dirt and fight the prairie fire with fire of his own.

    We can complain and loathe Trump all we want, and believe me, I've done that, but until Republicans are willing to stand up and fight for Conservatism, to explain why those values are not morally corrupt, but require virtue to maintain, the GOP will remain vulnerable to this nonsense.

    Would that there were more Ben Sasses in our politics...

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    1. Mary Stine

      McCain and Romney did not have the Horatio Alger storyline nor the eloquence Obama had.
      Also, both McCain and Romney had too much integrity to pretend that the conservative principles could be distilled into 3 second sound bites. William F. Buckley refused to do that, but he had his own TV show to showcase a more in depth presentation.
      As someone who grew up Republican and conservative, I think the bigger problem is that the Republican party began slapping away the hands of moderates in both parties who would have been willing to compromise or even join forces on certain conservative issues. Republicans who did reach out were swiftly condemned.
      I'd love to see conservatives make a calm, reasoned and compassionate case. No name calling, no "fighting", no dragging God or sex into it, just facts, reason, and the examples of history.
      It wouldn't hurt to pull a few good quotes from Jonah's book, Suicide of the West, either.
      My take on the American people is that we are primarily wired to be optimistic, independent and dedicated to the idea (at least) of fairness and justice. No party can keep twisting those in a negative direction endlessly, as both parties are trying to do now. The American voter will demand a more positive view, and vote accordingly.
      If conservatives can present their philosophy as the most optimistic, the most independent and the most fair, no "fighting" will be necessary. They will have won.


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      1. Val Xavier

        Good points, all!

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    2. Jaybrown

      Agree 100% on Sasse, but respect his desire not to have his life ruined by running.

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      1. Val Xavier

        Which that in and of itself says more about us than anything...

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  10. Natty Bumpo

    The whole RINO thing is one of many ironies in political discourse. What you say about it is spot on. The viral infection of populists in the Republican Party has replaced the DNA of the historic party with their own penchant for personality-driven conflict and assumed the identity of the party as their own, describing all others as alien. As a former resident of Kentucky, I understand Mitch McConnell and respect his political abilities. I do not agree with everything he has done and believe that he was wrong not to allow a vote on Garland, but on most other things I can see where he is coming from. Trump's animus is evidence of his vindictiveness over McConnell's lack of personal loyalty to Trump, and not related to political theory.

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