Anyone who thinks people cannot change their ways of thinking obviously doesn't believe in the powers of persuasion. They may not believe in GOD either.
Look, dammit. I am Recovering_Democrat. I, too, was a DEMOCRAT as recently as 1992. My mind began to change when I saw where the Democrat party was going....Bill Clinton was a scumbag liar,
and I saw that as a DEMOCRAT.
I began to listen to Rush Limbaugh.
I began to gain some personal wealth through investing.
I made friends with older, conservative businessmen who had more experience than me in life.
I fell in love with a conservative.
I got a job...a REAL job.
I began to read the Constitution, Thomas Sowell, George Will.
PEOPLE CAN & DO CHANGE!
God bless, it seems like SOME folks here on FR will REFUSE to allow someone to make a DAMN MISTAKE....or be convinced that ANYONE has turned from being a Democrat to a Republican. They're always looking for some tiny bit of evidence that someone is 
Benedict Arnold.
I'm here to tell you: only ONE man walked this planet who could turn water into wine, make the lame to walk and the blind to see, raise the dead, and stroll across Lake Galilee in a storm.
And whatever your equivalent of THAT MAN or WOMAN is in a political sense, well, THERE isn't gonna be a Second Coming.
We should learn our lesson from history: no person will fulfill all our hopes and dreams.
One thing is certain: Hussein is the WORST president of modern times. Perhaps of all time.
He blows. The WORST Republican in the race today is going to be head and shoulders above that socialist.
Should we have vigourous and strong debate? Absolutely. We need to weed out the Charlie Crists and the Arlen Specters and the true RINOs. The primary season is when we SHOULD debate--we should definitely weed out non-conservatives. I also think, though, we should be circumspect in how we define the term. Let's not allow our desire for a purist cause us to define anyone else as a RINO.
Heck, in the past week I heard Michele Bachmann talking about making "incremental" changes if need be...which is realistic. But some might label her a RINO for not wanting to blitzkrieg the political landscape...a scorched earth policy of destroying any good progress because a LITTLE good progress is possible.
God bless, and thanks for allowing me to rant.
RD