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InU.S. politics,Democrat in name only (DINO) is apejorative term used to describe politicians of theDemocratic Party to indicate that their governing or legislating style is more like a member of theRepublican Party.[1]
The termsBlue Dog Democrat andYellow dog Democrat have been more popular thanDINO for describingheterodox Democrats, particularlyconservative Democrats.[2]
In his 1920 run for one of Georgia's seats in theUnited States Senate,Thomas E. Watson was denounced by theValdosta Times newspaper as a "Democrat in name only."[3] WhenWilliam DeWitt Mitchell was appointedUnited States Attorney General in 1928 by PresidentHerbert Hoover, theChicago Tribune described Mitchell as a "Democrat in name only," arguing that "his record of the last few years has been Republican."[4] In 1936 United States SenatorEdward R. Burke of Nebraska resigned his position as a member of the Democratic National Committee stating that he could not support "any candidate masquerading as a Democrat but who was a Democrat in name only," referring toTerry Carpenter, a Representative from Nebraska then running for the Senate.[5]
The term was used by left-leaning bloggers in 2005 to refer to Connecticut SenatorJoe Lieberman, who they saw as being too conservative on foreign policy and an apologist for theBush administration.[6] In 2010, the term was also used in reference to Nebraska SenatorBen Nelson after voting not to confirmElena Kagan to the Supreme Court.[7]
In October 2021, Richard Luscombe writing inThe Guardian applied the term to two Democratic Senators,Joe Manchin ofWest Virginia andKyrsten Sinema ofArizona, when they opposed passing PresidentJoe Biden'sBuild Back Better Act.[8]