Confessions of a RINO, and no, he’s not a bit sorry

It looks like a fearsome beast, but seriously -- this RINO says he stands for moderation, consensus-building and believing the president is not going to impose martial law. (Photo by Flickr user Mark Dumont; used under Creative Commons license)

For those of us who are into counting down the days, there are just under 20 before we wrap up the 2014 general election. For those who are chairs of their local political parties, we have just about two months to go in our respective terms.

Congratulations on making it this far without too much damage to your body or your psyche. If you are damaged, don’t worry too much about it, for this too will pass, unless you run for re-election (in which case you’re just crazy).

Last April, a former colleague of mine, Jonathan Farley, lost his battle with cancer. While he and I never worked directly with each other, we were Senate staffers and we prided ourselves on the idea that it was OK to be moderately conservative Republicans. Before he passed away, he posted a great update on Facebook that really summed up what we were looking for in our political world. He wrote:

Wanted: a new name for people like …

See, I’ve been working in the GOP for a long time, and find it disturbing that a growing number of folks seem to be going crazy …

This country was not a utopia until the evil progressives ruined it. Just because some hippies want a bike path, it does not mean that the UN is going to take over our country and establish a New World Order …

The president is NOT going to establish martial law, nor is he a foreign born 5th column communist that will wreck the country in three years …

I don’t look up to people in the party based on their ability to “sock it to the liberals” and I actually read the lame stream media …

I’m also sensible enough to not see tyranny around every bill that gets introduced in a state legislature or the Congress. I don’t have the constitution memorized, nor can I recite it in Aramaic, but I understand how a bill becomes a law and how difficult that is to get done…

See, I never got into labels, but used to call myself ‘conservative’ in the sense that I truly want to be left alone … and am cynical about large groups of humans in any capacity making good decisions…

But now?

It seems more and more that if you don’t believe everything I just mentioned you are a ‘moderate’ a ‘progressive’ or the ultimate slander …. ‘A RINO.’

So I’m looking for a new name. I like “Republican that isn’t bat#@$* crazy,” but am taking suggestions.

I am quite the conundrum for non-RINO’s. (That's "Republican in name only," in the jargon of contemporary politics.) I am a fiscal conservative whose best friend is a liberal Democrat. I am a pro-life Catholic who agrees with the idea of same-sex civil unions. I am a former legislative staffer who understands the art of the legislative process and the ingredients needed to get public policy passed. I am proud to call myself a Republican.

During my time as the Kalamazoo GOP Chairman, I attempted to bring some modernization to my local party’s operations. I pulled together a team of members who built our local treasury back up to a level that could support our candidates. I represented Republicans from all across the political spectrum. And, keeping in mind that the purpose of a political party is to support and get its candidates elected, I also spoke out numerous times about statements regarding homosexuals. These statements lie at the corner of ludicrous and insane, statements that alienate a large part of the electorate.

I was attacked for doing so and was quickly labeled “an Obama-loving RINO” by many non-dues paying members of the party, despite the fact that I chose not to vote for the president -- twice.

Yes, I am a RINO and I am not alone. Many of us in the Lansing Capitol staff and lobbyist community feel the same as Jonathan. We are proud of who we are and as we approach the next election we share a worry. We worry that, on both sides of the aisle, the extremes will win and they will dictate what the next House Speaker and Senate Majority Leader will look like.

If the extremes get their way, the next leaders will only allow votes on bills that have the support of a majority of the majority. Enacting the so-called Hastert rule in the majority caucus will only bring Michigan’s comeback to a slow crawl or worse. Gridlock will come to Lansing and the RINO’s and the DINO’s (Democrats in Name Only) in the room will become less and less effective. We’ll become a dying breed, replaced not by folks who want good public policy, but those who only want to fight for the sake of fighting.

There’s just about 20 days left. What is going to happen to us RINO’s and DINO’s?