You Call Me a RINO Like It’s a Bad Thing

Prologue

Using pejorative terms against people with whom you disagree is nothing new, crass and uninformative.

I

A

I was born and raised a southern yellow dog Democrat. It is only recently—in the grand scheme of things—that I changed political parties. Shortly after the “Joe the Plumber” street Q & A in the lead-up to the 2008 election, I began to examine my political values. I discovered that, on balance, I could no longer vote Democrat or belong to the Democratic Party. I voted McCain-Palin. More McCain than Palin but you can’t always pick your Uber driver. In 2012, I voted for Romney.

Then something weird happened.

In 2016, the Republican Party shifted. Its core conservative values and principles moved to an extreme faux-populist sentiment that saw the election of a not very bright television game show host. I knew we were in trouble when the candidate suggested that the Supreme Court should “investigate” alleged wrongdoing, a fundamental misunderstanding of our tripartite republican form of government. That error, that organic ignorance of the Constitution, played out over four years until its apotheosis on January 6, 2021.

Now here, in spite of my criticism, is my penitential confession: I voted for Trump in 2016. I voted for Trump in 2020.

It’s complicated.

What are my plans for 2024? Good question. There is a fair probability that I will vote for the Republican nominee. But, while I’m still able, allow me to voice my opinion.

B

The current Republican Party—not my grandfather’s Republican Party—is in peril. We are in the midst of a civil war. The current populist front runner allows fealty only to himself—not to the rule of the law, not to the Constitution (see Mike Pence), not to the norms of democracy—but only to the cult of Trump. Lest you stray from the Trump orthodoxy (bend at the knee), you are a Republican In Name Only (RINO). Oh, the horror.

II

A

When Barack Hussein Obama ran for Chief Executive with literally no experience (Nobel Peace prize, anyone, with a side order of murdered children in drone strikes?) and I thought about switching allegiances, I took a hard look at the Republican platform. I liked what I saw. It went something like this:

“We believe in liberty, economic prosperity, preserving American values and traditions, and restoring the American dream for every citizen of this great nation. As a party, we support policies that seek to achieve those goals.

“We are centered on stimulating economic growth for all Americans, protecting constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms, ensuring the integrity of our elections, and maintaining our national security.

“We were originally founded in 1854 for the purpose of ending slavery. As the left attempts to destroy what makes America great, the Republican Party is standing in the breach to defend our nation and way of life.”

—GOP Website [minor alterations].

I don’t see anything in the party platform about denigrating women’s genitalia, demanding loyalty oaths or foolishly believing blatant disinformation.

I am a conservative. I am a Republican.

That does not shape my values. Rather, my values—my belief system—dictate where I happen to fall on the political spectrum. I am a conservative Republican—but not just “in name” only. However:

If being a RINO means that I passionately believe in the rule of law over political discipleship, call me a RINO.

If being a RINO means I am I unafraid to use my intellect to decide fraught political issues, call me a RINO.

If being a RINO means being outside the extreme right fringes of the Grand Ole Party, then I will stand alone.

Call me a RINO.

Just don’t call me a RINO like it’s a bad thing.

B

1

There used to be a line. A decency line. We used to talk to each other, agree on certain patriotic touchstones. In the Obama-Trump era, that line has frayed. We are just ugly. Ugly to each other. It used to be party against party. Now it’s intra-party: we despise each other.

2

“All politics is local” goes the saying but it appears that some local political parties feel that, to the contrary, all politics is national. That does not work.

What is important to Republican voters in a New York borough is not always germane to Republican voters in a rural Texas county.

3

From the days of Lincoln, the Republican Party stood on principle, not because it sounded good, developed a social media following or elicited cheers from fawning crowds but—drawn from principled discipline—it was the right thing to do, to say, to attempt.

It is ironic that we conservatives are the first to accuse others of being “sheep” for following popular trends.

If we blindly, without much thought, follow a popular front runner without rationale, then that’s—yea, that’s kind of “sheep” behavior. I mean, date whoever you want but if there are red flags, I will tell you there are red flags, friend.

It’s fairly simple. The Republican Party either will adhere to its conservative roots against all odds or it will crater to this moment of performative populism, untethered to principle. We can be upright or we can be celebrity but we can’t be both.

Here is the deal with my Republican brethren so carelessly unsheathing the “RINO” cudgel: it does not work. It is meaningful only to the extent that if you disagree with me, I’m willing to denigrate you and I’m incapable of having a policy discussion. Ultimately, hurling the RINO insult is uninformative and intellectually lazy.

“All politics is national” is anathema to growing local engagement and encouragement to participate in politics, which is sorely needed. A national trend has emerged of local parties censuring Republican office holders over such things as not toeing the party line on Medicaid expansion, pandemic restrictions or licking the boots of the front runner. I would love to see some independent thought. But the conformist pressures are too great. Restrictive, enforced conformity to national sentiment is deleterious to growing the party at a grassroots level.

It could be, for example, that the Texas impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton was wrong. Or, perhaps, given his conduct, the impeachment process was the right thing to do, in spite of the acquittal. Intense arguments—on both sides—were engaged. I will posit that calling someone a RINO for taking a stance (either way) adds nothing of substance to the discourse. So stop. Local parties may soon find a dearth of volunteers, myself included, who do not cotton to bullying, extremist tactics that barely work on the national level, much less in your local neighborhood caucus.

We conservatives can come together on a molecular level and elect a conservative President—a good President. But let’s stop acting like crabs in a barrel.

My concern is that if we continue down this road of solely being about the cult of personality and tearing each other apart in the process, the Republican Party I turned to in 2008 for its stalwartness will become soulless.

And no one wants to vote for a ghoul.