Does Donald Trump have a 'SINO' problem?
SINOs: A play on Republicans in Name Only (RINOs) with several meanings, including 鈥� of late 鈥� Supporters in Name Only, to connote half-hearted backing for a candidate.
The term has been around in various forms for years. But it picked up speed in March when it appeared a contested GOP convention was a real possibility and that some delegates pledged to support one candidate would secretly sympathize with another aspirant. The use of SINO in that context was to John Yob, a Republican strategist who was Rick Santorum鈥檚 national convention director in 2012.
Even though Donald Trump has sewn up the GOP nomination, making a contested convention highly unlikely, the term is coming back. Chuck Todd, NBC鈥檚 political director and moderator of 鈥淢eet the Press,鈥� last week that Trump 鈥渉as a SINO problem 鈥� more 鈥榮upporters in name only鈥� than actual ground troops.鈥� In NBC鈥檚 First Read political blog, Todd and others also House Speaker Paul Ryan鈥檚 tepid endorsement of Trump.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 one way to view the Paul Ryans of the world: there are going to be SINOs 鈥� Supporters in Name Only,鈥� they wrote. 鈥淏ut when the going gets tough, as happens in all campaigns, will the entire Republican Party get behind Trump? That鈥檚 a real question right now.鈥�
In liberal circles, SINO has an entirely different meaning -- Socialist in Name Only. That was directed against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders 鈥� a self-described 鈥渄emocratic socialist鈥� 鈥� for a while when some socialists questioned whether he was truly committed to their cause. In July 2015, Politico Magazine by writer and academic Fredrik deBoer headlined, 鈥淚s Bernie Sanders a Socialist in Name Only?鈥�
The furor when Sanders decided to run for president as a Democrat. It led the Los Angeles Times鈥� Doyle McManus to that Sanders鈥� past affiliation with socialism 鈥� an ideology that 鈥� didn鈥檛 really matter much.
鈥淗e鈥檚 turned into a 鈥榮ocial democrat鈥� much like the technocrats he praises in Denmark and Sweden,鈥� McManus wrote. 鈥淭o purists on the left, that makes Sanders a SINO 鈥� a socialist in name only. But he鈥檚 winning millions of converts and widening the Democrats鈥� window of debate toward the left, which is more than old-school socialists have accomplished since about 1972.鈥�
On , Ryan鈥檚 predecessor as House leader, John Boehner, also was labeled a SINO, as in Speaker in Name Only. And the hunting-and-fishing publication Field & Stream two years ago to describe what it called Sportsmen in Name Only, 鈥渙r those hundreds of politicians you keep sending to Congress who claim to love you, but betray you when it suits them.鈥�
Chuck McCutcheon writes his 鈥淪peaking Politics鈥� blog exclusively for Politics Voices.
Interested in decoding what candidates are saying? Chuck McCutcheon and David Mark鈥檚 latest book, 鈥淒oubletalk: The Language, Code, and Jargon of a Presidential Election,鈥� is
