Back in the mid 1800s, the Whigs had such purity forces come to power that demanded people be “real” Whigs. That worked well for them, didn’t it? More recently, the South Carolina Democrats went through such a purity phase back in the early 1990s. That really worked out for them.

Indeed, when any political movement is ran by people that seek to push people out and define them as not worthy to be within it, failure eventually happens. Politics comes down to power. In a democratic republic such as ours, that power comes from building coalitions in which people find more in common than not and are not driven out over singular issues. Frankly, that is how winning is done.

Calling folks RINOs for only agreeing on 80 percent of the issues that you do and making them feel unwelcome in the GOP will only diminish the power of the GOP.

If you want to sit around those who have only the same pure thoughts as you, join a church. Politics is not that place.

Ask yourself this. If a man is pro-life, against gun control, for lower taxes and strong national defense, but has some qualms about private school tuition credits, is that a man a RINO and not welcomed in the Republican party anymore?