- Bob Inglis (R- S.C.)
Of course, this guy lost a primary to a Tea Party candidate…
Just the other day I read about him here: Confessions of a Tea Party Casualty. Sounds like someone the Republicans could use more of, not less.
This is why I half-believe that the move to open and democratic (small “d”) party primaries was a mistake. Back when party nominees were selected in smoke-filled back rooms, a real effort was made to select moderate candidate who could reach across party lines - not from any sense of bipartisan virtue, but because this was seen as the best way to win elections.
But democratic primaries are hard on moderates seeking a party nomination. Moderates don’t serves as activists in primary campaigns - hard-liners do. And they’re likelier to vote in primaries as well.
I wrote a big term paper on this topic. I argued that having popular nominations led to them 1-5 Dems nominating a 2 and the 6-10 Pubs nominating an 8, and so you get to the general election and have to choose between a 2 and an 8. You’ll never get a centrist with that kind of election scheme.
However, in practice you do. in the 2008 presidential primaries, both Obama and Clinton were moderate Democrats, and McCain was a moderate Republican. In addition, I don’t see any evidence of current Democrat primaries returning extreme left-wing candidates, even though the party does have a left wing.
What’s happening is just a current development in the GOP. I suspect that it has a lot to do with both the current recession and long-term trends in the US economy. Members of the GOP are suffering (as are a lot of Democrats), and one reaction is a turn to populist right-wing ideas such as those offered by the “Tea Party”.
Fair point - I’d point out in turn, though, that democratic primaries do seem to facilitate this sort of extremism. Further, extremism of this sort is probably likelier to happen during times of crisis - that is, during the times in which it can do the most damage.
And that’s the problem - democratic primaries probably aren’t that harmful most of the time, but facilitiate extremism at precisely the times when political calm is called for. On the other hand, party nominations dictated from “on high” will reliably produce moderates who’ll advance sensible policy in the midst of crisis, but you lose a lot of public accountability.
Let’s put term limits on the senate while we’re fixing problems with pipe dreams 
“Look! A RINO seen in the wild!”
Fixed that for ya.
What makes him a RINO? The fact that he’s unwilling to call the president a Socialist?
RINO, like Socialist, is just another snarl term. It has no real meaning beyond ‘grrr’.
He sounds like a good man. I don’t even care that he disagrees with Obama, but the fact that he’s not a spittle-spewing Tea Bagging douche. Then again, maybe my standards for what a conservative is has been so lowered by the Tea Baggers that I see this guy as a bright spot in the party