You need to learn to look at a RINO like Snowe or Specter as a place holder until more conservative candidates can be elected. That might not happen in your state, but it is almost certainly achievable somewhere. The point is, you don't concede even a fraction of an inch to the democrats let alone a whole seat. You hold all Republican seats including the RINOs and look to add to them, pushing and contributing to the most competitive conservative candidates nationally, wherever they might be.
It's very hard to replace a RINO with a conservative without letting a dem hold the seat for a term. While genuinely moderate Republicans may be fine, RINOs are a cancer on the party.
Also, if I might use an analogy, if you are in a car that's skidding down an icy hill toward a sharp cliff, is it better to keep the brakes locked, or is it better to let up on the brakes to try to regain traction? Letting up on the brakes for a moment may mean that--briefly--one is sliding down the hill faster, and it may be that one won't be able to avoid going over the cliff. Indeed, one might end up going over the cliff sooner than if one simply kept the brakes locked.
On the other hand, the guaranteed outcome of keeping the breaks locked is that the car will go over the cliff. The only possibility of stopping it is to try to regain traction. The longer the brakes are kept locked beforehand, though, the more likely it becomes that the cliff will be unavoidable.
You need to learn to look at a RINO like Snowe or Specter as a place holder until more conservative candidates can be elected.
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I think that's a very critical point that needs repeated often.