Charles Shiflett Column September 12 2004

Move Over RINO's, It's The DINO's

A few weeks ago we took a look at RINO's (Republicans in name only) and how they might impact the
July Primary Election. RINO's are candidates who don't necessarily believe in the principles of the
Republican Party, but run under the GOP banner in order to increase their odds of winning. Most RINO
candidates this year were thinned out by GOP voters and very few survived the Primary.

So with the November election rapidly approaching, we now get to take a look at yet another creature
in the U.S. political zoo - DINO's (Democrats in name only). We have a lot of these rascals in Georgia
and across the South, though their quantities are dwindling as increasing numbers defect to the GOP.
Even many “yellow dog Democrats” are changing their allegiance or at least holding their noses and
voting for Republican candidates.

The political beliefs of DINO's are almost identical to those of the Republican Party and completely out
of sync with today's Democrat Party. You probably know folks who say that “my granddaddy was a
Democrat, and my daddy was a Democrat, and I'm one too.” However, when you begin to delve into
the political beliefs of these people you find they really aren't Democrat in their ideology.

Some DINO's, similar to their RINO counterparts, don't ascribe to the Democrat platform, but run as or
support Democrats out of political necessity. However, with the rise of the GOP in the South, many
southern Democrats can finally kick the donkey and move to a party they'll be more comfortable with.

I want to ask all you readers who consider yourselves to be Democrats to take a little test. Give
yourself one point for every no answer. (1) Do you believe the barbaric practice of partial birth abortion
should be legal? (2) Do believe homosexual same sex marriage should be legal? (3) Do you believe
posting of the Ten Commandments in public buildings should be banned?

Let's continue… (4) Do you believe the Social Security system is healthy and doesn't need
improvement? (5) Do you believe the current confusing tax system is fine? (6) Do you believe
personal responsibility is a bad thing? (7) Do you believe in tighter gun control restrictions?

(8) Do you believe we should let the UN decide whether or not our nation can defend itself? (9) Do you
believe we should downsize our military even more? (10) Do you believe preemptively attacking
terrorists on their own soil is wrong?

If you answered “no” six or more times, you are not a Democrat and would probably feel more at home
in the Republican Party. Answering “no” between three and five times puts you in the category of
moderate Democrat or independent voter. With a little more enlightenment, you'd most likely enter the
big GOP tent as a Republican.

Now those of you answering “no” from zero to two times are predominantly hardcore leftists and John
Kerry is your man. We'll send you a ribbon so we can identify… I mean honor you, but you'll probably
throw it over a fence somewhere. Better yet, just borrow someone else's ribbon to throw in case you
need yours for a photo op down the road.

If you're still undecided about whether you are a DINO, find a video copy of Zell Miller's recent GOP
convention speech and watch it again. Zell thought he was a Democrat until he arrived in DC and saw
what the real Democrat Party is all about. He says he's been a Democrat all his life and now that he's
in his 70's and retiring from public office it's too late to change.

However, Zell has endorsed and is campaigning for Georgia W. Bush; has endorsed Republican Nancy
Schaefer for the state senate race where he lives; has indicated he will vote for Republican Johnny
Isakson for U.S. Senate, and plans to campaign this fall in favor of Georgia's proposed gay marriage
ban. Sounds to me like old Zell is a DINO if there ever was one.

If Georgia's conservative Democrats are paying attention to Zell, then the State House will join the
State Senate as being under GOP control come January. With all the party switching going on,
southern conservative Democrats are a disappearing breed. In the near future you'll probably need to
visit a museum to find one.