RINO is not such an elegant or precise term. Are there degrees of RINOism? I believe that there are. Fred staying in the race bleeds votes from everyone accept McCain, the worst RINO. His remaining in the race, in my view, is a bad thing. I also believe that Huckabee has no real shot. The candidates who still have a real shot are McCain, Romney & possibly Rudy.
We must decide which among them we will get behind, or just take our marbles, go home and complain. Of the three, I think Romney is the lesser RINO and would be the strongest candidate in the GE.
I’m tired of hearing who Thompson hurts if he stays in...he has as much a right to try and capture the nomination as all the others. Stop whining.
You posted eloquently but I have to sincerely disagree with your premise. If you don't vote for who you think is best qualified, you will never get the person you want. Treating an election like a football game is not the right way to vote, and way to complicated what with all the permutations. Keep it simple, vote for who you think is best qualified, not the one you think will will or the one that might draw votes from an apponent.
What you say it true, but not as ole' Paul says, 'The rest of the story.'