You said: That is what I don't get though. When we use a primary contest to purify the party, then we are getting rid of the RINOs. When they attempt to get rid of someone, they are throwing him under the bus.
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The difference is, the GOP operates, or tries to, on actual governing philosophy, consisting of personal responsibility, etc. The dems work on a philosophy of "What will it take to win?" and act accordingly. The dems are perfectly willing to get rid of candidates based on whether they might lose or not (Toricelli is a recent example). That is the difference.
That's that old Robert Kennedy formula: the "right thing to do" is always to get power first, and then to keep it. Then you can "do the right thing." Apparently, "doing the right thing" is never about "doing the right thing" out of office.
Which means it's always really about making other people do my "right thing".