Democrat In Name Only (DINO) is a disparaging term for a member of the United States Democratic Party. A DINO is considered to be more conservative (fiscally and/or socially) than fellow Democrats.
The term was created as an analogous opposite to RINO (Republican In Name Only), which refers to more liberal members of the US Republican Party.
"DINO" is used by more ideological (politically speaking) members of the Democrats to counter fellow party members for their heterodox, or relatively moderate or conservative positions. Likewise, the term RINO is typically given to Republican members who espouse more "middle of the road" positions or who espouse more liberal positions.
Dixiecrats were conservative Democrats in the South during the segregation years. Some Dixiecrats switched to the Republican Party, became independents or retired from politics. Others remained Democrats, but positioned themselves to the "right" of other party members.
Read more about Democrat In Name Only: Regional Differences and Issues
Famous quotes containing the word democrat:
“The American doctrinaire is the converse of the American demagogue, and, in this way, is scarcely less injurious to the public. The first deals in poetry, the last in cant. He is as much a visionary on one side, as the extreme theoretical democrat is a visionary on the other.”
—James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851)