A couple of months ago, former Republican Governor Marc Racicot was labeled a RINO and formally removed from the Montana Republican Party, due to the fact that he was responsible for electing President George W. Bush and was also a former Republican governor. president of the National Republican Party.
Where had he gone wrong?
For those who don’t already know, RINO stands for Republican in Name Only and the Democratic equivalent is DINO.
In the mid-1990s I organized a small group of politically diverse Democrats that examined the loss of Democratic control of the Legislature in numbers similar to today’s lopsided margin. Our finding was that intolerance of those whose political beliefs did not fully align with the party’s most passionate political activists contributed to Democratic losses. The same would apply to any party where political impurity is not tolerated.
As an example, I used the logo for a popular drink at the time, Ballantine Ale, which was three interlocking rings forming a triangle. The rings were labeled “purity, body, flavor.” For Democrats I used the labels “pro-choice, pro-labor, pro-environment.” Where these three rings intertwined was where the “true” Democrat lived.
The only problem was that they only made up 5% of those who called themselves Democrats, and anyone with beliefs outside of that center were not very desirable as candidates or allies, even though they considered themselves Democrats. Holding only two of the three core beliefs didn’t cut it.
Today’s Republicans have the same problem, though it hasn’t yet resulted in an electoral disaster. His three rings could be “Trump won, pro-family, pro-NRA.” The recent loss of the prophesied “red wave” was due to “Trump won” candidates losing disproportionately compared to more mainstream Republican candidates.
The important thing in a legislative body, state or federal, is to have the largest number of members of your party elected to achieve the majority. The majority chooses the leaders, sets—owns is a better word—the rules, controls legislation, and generally runs the show.
In Montana there have rarely been enough “pure” Democrats to pull it off, so out of necessity Democrats have had to settle for what they like to call DINO, but don’t for fear of alienating them and that the DINOs end up voting with the Republicans. One thing neither party wants to admit or understand is that most people do not fit the party’s notions of true believers.
Logic and experience suggest that the best candidate for a political office is one who has similar beliefs to the voters of that political district, that is, they are eligible.
So, for example, in a moderate suburban district, a Republican candidate who “Trump won” wouldn’t do so well, and neither would a Democratic candidate like Bernie Sanders.
Political purists, however, might insist on running their version of a “pure” candidate in a primary, defeat the more moderate candidate, but lose the general election.
The goal of a political party is to win the majority, period. I had a friend in the House of Representatives who was a Democrat from a conservative district. His party affiliation helped give the Democrats a slim two-vote majority, though he often voted with the Republicans. Republicans were wooing him to switch parties, and Democrats were doing everything they could to make him feel unwelcome. A younger person could have switched sides. He didn’t do it.
My point is this; if a political party wants to govern it must accept people who do not agree with the party’s philosophy 100 percent.
Someone once accused me of preaching the politics of accommodation, which is exactly my point because politics is not about finding a majority of people who are with you completely, but finding people who are with you most of the time .
If I offended someone’s political sensibilities by saying that accepting impurity is important, fine. Their beliefs must be challenged so that they can examine them critically. The goal of a political party is to win so that it can advance its beliefs. You can’t win by firing those who are with you “only” 85% of the time. This is how Ronald Reagan got Democratic votes. As Casey Stengel used to say, “You could look it up.”
Jim Elliott served 16 years in the Montana Legislature. He lives on his ranch in Trout Creek.
