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Since Ray Malone is in heaven, and as far as I know can't post from there, let me say: 60% of the voters, maybe more, are RINOs and DINOs.

That's where elections are won.

In some states, there are lots of DINOs - Northern Ohio, for example. In some states, there are lots of RINOs - New England, for example.

President Reagan got his massive landslides by winning both DINOs and RINOs. Conservatives can win with conservatives + DINOs or with conservatives + RINOs, but they can't win with neither.

Sociology is part of this - in my neck of the woods, the DINOs hate Republicans so much - Republicans are their social, cultural, religious and economic enemies - that they will vote for a communist before they'll vote for a self-identified Republican. They may vote for a conservative who "happens to be a Republican", but that conservative has to be an enemy of the party organization who wins a nomination from the outside.

Here's a litmus test for the ability to win DINOs - if you ever even THOUGHT ABOUT the question, "Are Catholics Christians"?, you will never, ever win a single DINO vote - not in a million years.

I believe the "expel the RINOs" movement is ill-considered. There's almost nowhere in the country where a RINOless Republican party can win a single office.

If conservatives are to win without RINOs, then they have to leave the Republican party so that they can win over a big slice of DINOs.

Ronald Reagan was the exception that proves the rule. Even though he was able to use the GOP as a vehicle to win two big landslides, he never took it over, and the GOP he left behind has never been able to attract DINOs the way he could.

RINOs or DINOs - take your pick. With neither, there's no future.

And Ray - we miss you.