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 liberal.
The term originated around 2000, coined by conservative members of the Republican Party who opposed the party's current status as a center-right party, and wish to realign it as a specifically conservative party. Some of these conservative 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]
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
Legend
Groups that have labelled politicians RINOs
List of Republicans who have attracted the RINO label:
John Nichols argues [2] 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'."
Putative DINOs
Democrats who have been accused of being DINOs include:
See also
External links
Last updated: 05-21-2005 02:15:00
