Well your terminology for them is interesting, and possibly more accurate, but not used by anyone else. I'm calling them what they called themselves, and what most people claimed about them at the time of the election.
With Romney there was a fair bit of push-back from the Right that he was a RINO, and it never really let up so, yeah, he got tagged with that.
Still: they ran as Conservatives, as the standard bearer of the nominally conservative party, the Republicans. They were supported by most of the leading Conservative groups and thinkers and magazines at that time. Their opponents detracted them for being conservatives.
Which major party nominee or even major candidate since Reagan would you say was an *actual* conservative?
Ironically much of the Conservative movement (Weekly Standard, National Review, George Will) think Trump's not a conservative because he's not pro Free Trade and Open Borders and other things.
So, clearly, the Conservative movement has factions that don't agree on basic propositions, and has had them for a long time.
Trump, in his positions, is more like Pat Buchanan than he is the long string of Nominees and wanna-bes the GOP put up as candidates.
A lot of people, including a *lot* of people here on Free Republic (the home of True Conservatism) have never liked Buchanan and claim he's not a "True Conservative" because he opposes Free Trade, supports tariffs, didn't support the War in Iraq, etc.
I've always considered his PaleoCon version of Conservatism more True Conservatism than what the vast majority of the GOP has been promoting for 50 years. Maybe Reagan didn't promote it, but he didn't stop much of it (the March of the Liberal Behemoth) either.
John McCain progressive republican February 12, 2010
McCain Buries His Progressive Past
McCain was best described as a progressive - like Teddy Roosevelt, whom he cited constantly.
Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity Talk ‘Progressive Republicans’ and the Big Ideas That Could Save the Country Dec 2, 2013
Cure your ignorance.
progressive republicans
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