The forum is very guilty of RINO creep. It has taken on the definition of “any one that doesn’t fit within the parameters of my extremely narrow minded views.” That is the very dangerous trend that I see in conservative Republican politics today:
"Anybody one inch to the Left of me is a "RINO", at best, or a RAT, at worst, and is just as bad as Far Left-wing Obama."
That works great in a Republican primary since 60% of all Republicans are conservative.
In a general election in America in this day and age, that is a recipe for disaster since 71% of all voters are not Republicans.
To use a football field analogy, Ronald Reagan won in a landslide by attracting conservatives, "RATS" and "RINOS" all the way to the other guy's 40 yard line.
Attracting everybody from your own 29 yard line ( actually, your own 17 yard line since 40% of Republicans are demonized as "RINOS" ) to your own end zone and demonizing everybody else on the playing field is a guaranteed formula for an electoral defeat of Biblical proportions in a general election.
Just ask the Democrats when they tried to impose Left-wing political purity on Senator Joe Lieberman. The voters turned their backs on the political purists on the Far Left 17 yard line and reelected Joe who was on the 40 yard line.
Well stated.
I like Palin, but not ask the Republican nominee for POTUS - my position isn’t popular here and lots of posters would like for me and others like me to go away, stop posting - they are willing to give up my vote, my voice in favor of their “perfect” candidate.
They will lose.
-—That is the very dangerous trend that I see in conservative Republican politics today:-——
I have little actual feel for the greater scope of conservative Republican politics beyond Free Republic. My thought is that there is a holier than thou attitude present on Free Republic that accounts for the RINO creep.
My question is, does it carry on outside the important but limited boundaries of Free Republic?, enough to be a trend of major scope across the larger conservative landscape.
I live in a very conservative area and I don’t think most of my conservative friends would have much thought on the matter of RINO. They would likely think something like
All conservatives are Republican but not all Republicans are conservative.