Republican In Name Only
Encyclopedia
Republican In Name Only is a pejorative
term that refers to a member of the Republican Party of the United States
whose political views or actions are considered insufficiently conservative or otherwise not conforming to party positions. The acronym RINO, emerging in the 1990s, is a charge used in campaigns by Republican conservatives against party moderates.
, then-President William Howard Taft
, and Senator Robert LaFollette
fought for ideological control of the Republican Party and each denounced the other two as "not really Republican". The phrase Republican in name only emerged as a popular political pejorative
in the 1920s, 1950s and 1980s.
The earliest known print appearance of the term RINO was in the Manchester, New Hampshire
newspaper then called The Union Leader
.
Buttons featuring the red slash through an image of a rhinoceros
were spotted in the New Hampshire State House
as early as 1992. In 1993, former Marine and future California Republican Assembly
President Celeste Greig distributed buttons featuring a red slash over the word RINO to express opposition to Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan
. The term came into widespread usage during the 2000 election campaigns.
season, some conservative organizations classify as RINOs Republicans who fail to adopt their hardline stances. National Federation of Republican Assemblies
started the "RINO Hunters' Club", which targets candidates soft on taxes, gun rights, and abortion. The anti-tax group Club for Growth
(which supports the National Federation of Republican Assemblies) invented the "RINO Watch" list to monitor "Republican office holders around the nation who have advanced egregious anti-growth, anti-freedom or anti-free market policies".
and his successor Harry Truman. Dewey did not oppose Roosevelt's New Deal
programs altogether, but merely campaigned on the promise that Republicans would run them more efficiently and less corruptly.
From 1936 to 1976, the more centrist of the Republican Party frequently won the national nomination with candidates such as Alf Landon
, Wendell Willkie
, Thomas E. Dewey, Dwight D. Eisenhower
, Richard Nixon
, and Gerald Ford
. The mainstream of the Republican Party was generally supportive of the New Deal
, and the far right
was the more marginalized faction. In the 1950s, conservatives such as Barry Goldwater
, who rallied against "me-too Republicans", were considered outside of the mainstream of the then-centrist GOP; serious consideration was given to leaving the GOP and forming a new conservative party in cooperation with conservative Democrats.
. A more widely adopted term was Rockefeller Republican
. Neither expression was always considered pejorative.
Pejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
term that refers to a member of the Republican Party of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
whose political views or actions are considered insufficiently conservative or otherwise not conforming to party positions. The acronym RINO, emerging in the 1990s, is a charge used in campaigns by Republican conservatives against party moderates.
Origins
In 1912, former President Theodore RooseveltTheodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
, then-President William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
, and Senator Robert LaFollette
Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette, Sr. , was an American Republican politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was the Governor of Wisconsin, and was also a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin...
fought for ideological control of the Republican Party and each denounced the other two as "not really Republican". The phrase Republican in name only emerged as a popular political pejorative
Pejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
in the 1920s, 1950s and 1980s.
The earliest known print appearance of the term RINO was in the Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, the tenth largest city in New England, and the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which...
newspaper then called The Union Leader
New Hampshire Union Leader
The New Hampshire Union Leader is the daily newspaper of Manchester, the largest city in the state of New Hampshire. As of September 2010 it had a daily circulation of 48,342 and the circulation of its Sunday paper, the New Hampshire Sunday News, was 63,991. It was founded in 1863.It was called...
.
Buttons featuring the red slash through an image of a rhinoceros
Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros , also known as rhino, is a group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia....
were spotted in the New Hampshire State House
New Hampshire State House
The New Hampshire State House is the state capitol building of New Hampshire, located in Concord at 107 North Main Street. The capitol houses the New Hampshire General Court, Governor and Executive Council...
as early as 1992. In 1993, former Marine and future California Republican Assembly
California Republican Assembly
The California Republican Assembly is a conservative California Republican activist group. It is the oldest and largest grassroots volunteer organization chartered by the California Republican Party....
President Celeste Greig distributed buttons featuring a red slash over the word RINO to express opposition to Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan
Richard Riordan
Richard J. Riordan is a Republican politician from California, U.S.A. who served as the California Secretary for Education from 2003–2005 and as the 39th Mayor of Los Angeles, California from 1993–2001...
. The term came into widespread usage during the 2000 election campaigns.
Usage
During Republican primary campaignPrimary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
season, some conservative organizations classify as RINOs Republicans who fail to adopt their hardline stances. National Federation of Republican Assemblies
National Federation of Republican Assemblies
The National Federation of Republican Assemblies is a grassroots political organization which promotes conservative principles and candidates within the Republican Party...
started the "RINO Hunters' Club", which targets candidates soft on taxes, gun rights, and abortion. The anti-tax group Club for Growth
Club for Growth
The Club for Growth is a politically conservative 527 organization active in the United States of America, with an agenda focussed on taxation and other economic issues, and with an affiliated political action committee . The Club advocates lower taxes, limited government, less government spending,...
(which supports the National Federation of Republican Assemblies) invented the "RINO Watch" list to monitor "Republican office holders around the nation who have advanced egregious anti-growth, anti-freedom or anti-free market policies".
Similar terms
While the term RINO is of recent coinage, the concept of being an inauthentic member of the Republican Party by not representing its more conservative faction is a recurring theme in Party history.Me-too Republicans
In the 1930s and 40s, Me-too Republicans described those who ran on a platform of agreeing with the Democratic Party, proclaiming only minor or moderating differences. An example is two-time presidential candidate Thomas E. Dewey, who ran against the popular Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
and his successor Harry Truman. Dewey did not oppose Roosevelt's New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
programs altogether, but merely campaigned on the promise that Republicans would run them more efficiently and less corruptly.
From 1936 to 1976, the more centrist of the Republican Party frequently won the national nomination with candidates such as Alf Landon
Alf Landon
Alfred Mossman "Alf" Landon was an American Republican politician, who served as the 26th Governor of Kansas from 1933–1937. He was best known for being the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States, defeated in a landslide by Franklin D...
, Wendell Willkie
Wendell Willkie
Wendell Lewis Willkie was a corporate lawyer in the United States and a dark horse who became the Republican Party nominee for the president in 1940. A member of the liberal wing of the GOP, he crusaded against those domestic policies of the New Deal that he thought were inefficient and...
, Thomas E. Dewey, Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
, Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, and Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
. The mainstream of the Republican Party was generally supportive of the New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
, and the far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
was the more marginalized faction. In the 1950s, conservatives such as Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
, who rallied against "me-too Republicans", were considered outside of the mainstream of the then-centrist GOP; serious consideration was given to leaving the GOP and forming a new conservative party in cooperation with conservative Democrats.
Nixonians, and Rockefeller Republicans
In the 1960s and 70s, conservatives sometimes called moderate Republicans NixonianNixonian
The term Nixonian, or "Nixonite" is a term used to signify extreme secretiveness or corruption. It can also refer to liberal Republicans.The term is used to refer to a regime of dirty election tricks or abuses of power for political gain.-Other usage:...
. A more widely adopted term was Rockefeller Republican
Rockefeller Republican
Rockefeller Republican refers to a faction of the United States Republican Party who held moderate to liberal views similar to those of Nelson Rockefeller...
. Neither expression was always considered pejorative.
See also
- Blue Dog Democrats
- Boll Weevil DemocratsBoll weevil (politics)Boll weevils was an American political term used in the mid- and late-20th century to describe conservative Southern Democrats.During and after the administration of Franklin D...
- Democrat In Name OnlyDemocrat In Name OnlyDemocrat In Name Only, or DINO in acronym form, is a disparaging term for a member of the United States Democratic Party. A DINO is considered to be more conservative than fellow Democrats...
- Gypsy moth RepublicanGypsy moth RepublicanA Gypsy moth Republican, informally, is a politically pejorative term used by conservative Republicans to describe a moderate Republican serving in the U.S. House of Representatives who happens to represent a northeastern or midwestern urban area of the U.S....
- Half-BreedsHalf-Breed (politics)The "Half-Breeds" were a political faction of the United States Republican Party that existed in the late 19th century. The Half-Breeds were a moderate-wing group, and they were the opponents of the Stalwarts, the other main faction of the Republican Party. The main issue that separated the...
- Tea Party movementTea Party movementThe Tea Party movement is an American populist political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian, and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009...