VA: Gov. Bob McDonnell Increasingly Considered a RINO by Conservatives

[Mjh]

Good for him. I view it as a sign of strength that the angry fringe of the Conservative movement is angry at McDonnel. He is standing up to the fanatics of his own party.

[muon2]

Activists sometimes fail to appreciate the difference between specific policy objectives and governance. This is often the case when one side is used to legislators in the minority who can hold to a party line. Individual votes can match a specific position.

Governing from the executive is quite different. Executive decisions are generally far more complex than simple votes on pieces of legislation. The executive is far more likely to have to weigh short-term and long-term impacts of decisions. Reagan's support for immigrant amnesty in 1986 coupled with employer sanctions would be the type of complex compromise that would upset fringe activists. Reagan's support for the tax hike of 1982 upset some in the base since they felt that there had been insufficient cuts in spending first.