Republican In Name Only

RINO stands for Republican In Name Only, a disparaging term for a member of the United States Republican Party whose words and actions are thought to be too fiscally or socially moderate or liberal.

Contents

1 Origins 2 Putative RINOs 3 See also 4 External links

Origins

The term originated around 2000, coined by staunch conservative members of the Republican Party who opposed the party's status as a center-right party (center-right by American standards, but firmly right-wing by international standards) and wished to realign it as a wholly conservative party. Some of these Republicans have formed self-declared RINO Hunters' Clubs, devoted to purging those they see as RINOs from the party, or at least to oppose them in the primary elections to keep them from representing the party in general elections or obtaining elective office as Republicans. [1] (http://www.agenceglobal.com/article.asp?id=221)

A group that frequently does this is the economically-oriented Club for Growth - they ran ads against Senators George Voinovich of Ohio, Olympia Snowe of Maine, and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island after these Senators objected to certain aspects of one of President Bush's tax cuts. They also supported the recent primary challenge to Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter by Congressman Pat Toomey.

The acronym has led to the analogous DINO, a Democrat In Name Only, referring to those who are too conservative. The term Fox News liberal has also been used in this context. The two acronyms are, at the same time, puns on the popular English-language shortenings of the words rhinoceros and dinosaur.

Both terms are used by more ideological (politically speaking) members of either party to challenge fellow party members for their maverick or moderate positions. In some cases, the platforms of the members in question are not even necessarily close to the opponents—they just do not necessarily follow the party line in every case. Examples might include Senator John McCain, whose voting record is quite conservative on many issues, or Senator Joe Lieberman, who is in the mainstream of his party on many domestic issues.

Putative RINOs

List of Republicans who have been labeled as RINOs:

• Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City, a former Democrat (NFRA (http://www.gopwing.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=300))
• Sen. Michael DeWine of Ohio, who voted for the Cantwell amendment to prevent oil exploration in the ANWR in Alaska.
• Sen. John S. McCain III of Arizona, an opponent of tax cuts and proponent of campaign finance reform (CFG (http://www.clubforgrowth.org/rino/press-release.php), NFRA (http://www.gopwing.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=300))
• California politician and former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan (RN (http://www.townhall.com/columnists/robertnovak/rn20020308.shtml))
• Gov. Arnold A. Schwarzenegger of California, who is pro-choice (NFRA (http://www.gopwing.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=300))
• Gov. George Pataki of New York (NFRA (http://www.gopwing.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=300))
• Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who has in the past voiced pro-choice beliefs (CFG (http://slate.msn.com/id/2109827/), CWA (http://www.cwfa.org/articles/6864/LEGAL/judges/index.htm), NFRA (http://www.gopwing.com/modules.php?sid=324))
• Sen. George V. Voinovich of Ohio, a critic of John R. Bolton's nomination and a moderate (CFG (http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/04/19/loc_ohvoinovich19.html))
• Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia, who despite a very party-loyal voting record in Congress is pro-choice (SVGOP (http://www.savethegop.com/archives/category/rino-watch/))
• Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, who is pro-choice and is an ideological centrist (CFG (http://www.clubforgrowth.org/video/strong-allies-press.php), CWF (http://www.cwfpac.com/newsletter.php?id=08170304))
• Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, also an ideological centrist (CWF (http://www.cwfpac.com/newsletter.php?id=08170304))
• Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee of Rhode Island, the most moderate Republican in the Senate (CFG (http://www.clubforgrowth.org/archive-rino.php), CWF (http://www.cwfpac.com/newsletter.php?id=08170304), NFRA (http://www.gopwing.com/modules.php?sid=320))
• Former New Jersey governor and EPA head Christine Todd Whitman, a moderate
• Former Rep. Amory Houghton of New York (CWF (http://www.cwfpac.com/newsletter.php?id=08170304))
• Rep. James A. Leach of Iowa (CFG (http://www.clubforgrowth.org/rino-03.php), CWF (http://www.cwfpac.com/newsletter.php?id=08170304))
• Rep. Joe Schwarz of Michigan (CFG (http://www.townhall.com/columnists/robertnovak/printrn20040612.shtml))
• Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is pro-choice, popular among Democrats, voiced caution over invading Iraq and opposed Reagan delivering the famous Tear down this wall speech in Berlin in 1987.
• Former Governor of California Pete Wilson, who is pro-choice
• Former Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani, who, though very critical of John Kerry at the 2004 Republican National Convention, is pro-choice and has voiced support for gay rights

John Nichols argues [2] (http://www.agenceglobal.com/article.asp?id=221) that "[u]sing the measures that progressives might reasonably apply to define a liberal... it is possible to point to just one [current Republican] senator, Rhode Island's Lincoln Chafee, and two members of the House, New York's Amo Houghton and Iowa's Jim Leach... A somewhat larger circle clings to the moderate GOP mantras of a Gerald Ford or a Richard Lugar, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but they are fading fast as a force in Congress." While Delaware representative Mike Castle claims that there are 40-45 moderate Republicans in the House, Nichols remarks, "That's actually a bit of a stretch — either of the numbers or of the definition of a 'moderate'."

See also

• Left-Right politics
• Left-wing politics and Right-wing politics
• Party switching
• Democrat In Name Only

External links

• Definition and citations (http://www.wordspy.com/words/RINO.asp) from The Word Spy website
• RINO Watch (http://www.clubforgrowth.org/rino.php) from the Club for Growth, with a list as of 2004 of 72 RINOs
• RINO Hunters Club (http://www.rinohuntersclub.com/) and RINO weblog (http://www.gopwing.com/modules.php?name=News&new_topic=29) from the National Federation of Republican Assemblies
• Mommy, What's a RINO? (http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2004/billsrun/special_rino.html), from Public Broadcasting System P.O.V. Documentary film website
• Death of a RINO (http://www.townhall.com/columnists/robertnovak/rn20020308.shtml), a 2002 column by Robert Novak
• John Nichols, "Hunting for RINOs" (http://www.agenceglobal.com/article.asp?id=221) published in The Nation, September 13, 2004, p. 30-37.
• SavetheGOP.com (http://www.savethegop.com/) A Website dedicated to opposing RINOs in the GOP