Democrat In Name Only
DINO stands for
Democrat In Name Only, a disparaging term for a member of the modern-day
United States Democratic Party whose words and actions are thought to be too fiscally or socially
conservative. The term "
Fox News liberal" or "Fox News Democrat" has also been used in this context [
1].
The term was created as an analogous opposite to the
acronym RINO (
Republican In Name Only), which refers to more
liberal members of the
United States Republican Party. The acronym is a
pun on the popular
English-language shortening of the word
dinosaur (which is often used metaphorically to refer to a long-obsolete person).
"DINO" is used by more ideological (
politically speaking) members of the Democrats to challenge fellow party members for their heterodox or relatively
conservative positions. In some cases, the platform of the member in question is not even necessarily close to the opponents—they just do not necessarily follow the party line in every case. Many (but not all) of the DINOs are "conservatives" from Southern states which were predominantly
Dixiecrat before they switched en masse to the Republican Party. Unlike those who switched parties, these DINOs are content to remain "Democrats."
The similar term
Fox News liberal is used among Democrats and liberals in the U.S. to refer to those commentators and politicians who hold themselves out as liberals and/or Democrats, yet often agree with their conservative and/or Republican counterparts on TV talk shows or in legislative bodies on various issues and positions.
The term is similar to Democrat In Name Only (DINO). It is based on the belief, held by many on the left, that the Fox News Channel has a conservative/Republican bias, and the claim that many supposedly liberal Fox News are
straw men hired to ineffectively present liberal viewpoints. (This accusation has also been applied in reverse to the supposed conservative commentators on other networks, such as
Tucker Carlson or
William Safire.)
The term was first applied in 2004 to
Alan Colmes, the liberal co-host to conservative
Sean Hannity on the Fox News show
Hannity & Colmes. Some liberal viewers find Colmes' quiet, deferential style infuriating, particularly in contrast to the outspoken Hannity; and Colmes himself has sometimes taken more right-leaning positions, such as defending Mississippi Senator
Trent Lott after the latter made racially suspect remarks at the 100th birthday party for the late Sen.
Strom Thurmond. It hasn't helped Colmes with his liberal critics either that he has also defended Fox's "fair and balanced" slogan as accurate, or that he has been praised by prominent conservatives such as
Newt Gingrich and was once chosen as the favorite liberal by posters on a
Free Republic forum. Liberal commentator
Al Franken lambasted Colmes in his popular book
Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, accusing him of refusing to ask tough questions during debates and neglecting to challenge alleged erroneous claims made by Hannity or his guests.
Susan Estrich,
Ed Koch, and
Pat Caddell have also been called Fox News liberals for exhibiting similar tendencies and have faced criticism that they care more that conservatives like them and that they continue to appear on television than defending liberalism and the Democratic Party.
Zell Miller, a former Democratic Senator who endorsed
George W. Bush for reelection in
2004, has been particularly criticized for his support of Bush's policies.
The 2004 documentary
Outfoxed claimed to show that the Fox producers purposely choose unthreatening liberal commentators, both in the interviews with former producers for the network who spoke anonymously and an interview with a former commentator who recalled how he was let go by Fox early in what was supposed to be a long-term arrangement after challenging the case for the
2003 invasion of Iraq too forcefully.
Democrats who have been accused of being DINOs include:
*
Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, who often sides with the Republicans on tax policy. (
The American Prospect, Dec 30, 2002)
*
Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, who is also a former two-term Indiana Governor and possible 2008 Presidential candidate. His positions are generally right-of-center. However, this is disputed, as many in his very heavily Republican-dominated state consider him "liberal" simply because he is a Democrat. It is also possible that Bayh's positions are political tactics used to make him palatable to one of the most right-wing electorates in the United States.
*
Former Rep. Brad Carson of Oklahoma, who often touted his 'A' rating from the
National Rifle Association, support for many of President Bush's tax cuts and support for the Federal Marriage Amendment.
*
The late Governor Robert P. Casey of Pennsylvania, who was fiercely
pro-life and refused to campaign for any Democrat who was
pro-choice.
*
Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, who supported George W. Bush for president in 2000 and 2004 and has been the first and only Democrat to ever be endorsed by the conservative
Club for Growth; he describes himself as a "moderate conservative". Described as a "DINO" in a February 15, 2006 email "Make DINOs extinct: Join the call" from Tom Hughes to members of
Democracy for America.
*
Former Mayor Ed Koch of New York City who supported Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and several Republican mayors, governors, and senators of New York
*
Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, a
hawkish supporter of much of the Bush administration's foreign policy who has also sided with the Republicans on school vouchers and
entertainment and video game ratings and restrictions.
TomPaine.com, July 17, 2002 He lost the Democratic
primary to
Ned Lamont in his bid for re-nomination in
2006 and is continuing his re-election campaign under the banner of his own party,
Connecticut for Lieberman.
*
Rep. Jim Matheson of Utah, a
Blue Dog Democrat, who frequently
caucuses with the Republican majority in the House of Representatives.
*
Former Sen. Zell Miller of
Georgia,
keynote speaker at the
2004 Republican National Convention (
called an "in name only" by
Terry McAuliffe), who had a 94% voting record with the Republican leadership from 2003 to 2004.
*
Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, a moderate conservative.
*
Rep. Gene Taylor of Mississippi who voted for all four articles of
impeachment against
Bill Clinton, and for the Federal Marriage Amendment.
*
Former Rep. James Traficant of Ohio, who voted for Republican
Dennis Hastert for Speaker of the House in 2001. Afterwards, the Democrats refused to give him a committee assignment, making him the first member of the House of Representatives in over a century without any committee assignment who was not in a leadership position.
Conservative Democrats
*
Blue Dog Democrats: A caucus of Democratic Representatives in the
House who are generally more conservative
*
Conservative Democrat*
Southern Democrats*
Boll weevil (politics)See also
*
Left-Right politics*
Left-wing politics and
Right-wing politics*
Party switching*
Republican In Name Only
