By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice
To the courageous, yet anonymous, arbiters of Republicanism at RINO Watch Colorado:
I am writing to self-nominate to RINO Watch Colorado — not as a concession to any purity test, but as a challenge to this misguided and fruitless crusade.
I do so as a strong grassroots conservative in Colorado, unwavering in my commitment to the U.S. Constitution, to limited government, to the fundamental liberties enshrined in our Bill of Rights, and to the preservation of the values that made this nation great. If believing that the Republican Party must grow stronger by educating, inspiring and persuading — not by shunning, purging and dividing — makes me a RINO, then I must self-nominate.
As a Colorado native, I have lived, breathed and fought for conservatism at the grassroots level for years. As a Republican candidate, a campaign manager, a precinct leader and a district captain, I have knocked doors, made calls, raised money, mobilized voters, worked GOTV campaigns and engaged in the unglamorous work of party-building.
I have stood in the trenches, working to advance candidates who believe in liberty, fiscal responsibility and American strength. I have defended our values with both conviction and intelligence, understanding that winning the ideological war requires more than just shouting into the echo chamber.
I am a conservative because I believe in a government of the people, not an overreaching administrative state. I believe that our rights — free speech, religious liberty, the right to bear arms — are non-negotiable. I believe that life must be protected, that elections must be secure, that our economy must be driven by the ingenuity and work ethic of the American people, not crushed under the weight of bloated bureaucracy.
I believe that judges must interpret the U.S. Constitution as it was written, not as they wish it to be. I hold that America is strongest when it stands firm against tyranny abroad and chaos at home.
Yet, despite my steadfast adherence to these principles, I have been called a RINO by some within my own party — not because I have compromised on conservative values, but because I have refused to compromise on the basic principles of winning. The U.S. Constitution and the Republican platform should not just be shields for the faithful; they should be tools to persuade the skeptical.
The young, the unaffiliated and the politically disengaged are not won over by anger and resentment. They are won over by strength, by conviction and by an unyielding commitment to truth, delivered in a way that inspires, and does not alienate.
Too many in our party have forgotten this. They mistake division for strength, purity tests for principle and ideological rigidity for effectiveness. They cancel, they shun, they engage in rumor-mongering and personal destruction — all while patting themselves on the back as if these tactics are advancing conservatism. They are not. They are weakening it.
The Republican Party is at a crossroads.
It can choose to be a movement that grows or a movement that shrinks. It can embrace the challenge of persuading and inspiring, or it can continue its spiral into irrelevance, comforted only by the self-righteous purity of its shrinking inner circle. I choose to fight for the former because I believe that conservatism, rightly wielded, is not just a political ideology — it is the formula for human flourishing, national prosperity and enduring liberty.
To those who hide behind anonymity, freely passing critical judgment while shielding themselves from the same, go ahead, add my name to your RINO list. It’s easy to scrutinize when you can’t be scrutinized in return.
If refusing to surrender to a losing strategy makes me a RINO, if prioritizing persuasion over purges makes me a RINO, if believing that we must add to our ranks rather than drive people out makes me a RINO — then I wear the label proudly.
But I will not stop fighting.
I will continue working to sharpen the conservative message, broaden our coalition and remind my fellow Republicans that unity is not weakness, persuasion is not compromise, and victory will only come when we stop throwing our own overboard and start rowing in the same direction.
You want accountability?
Then let’s hold our leaders accountable — not just for their ideology, but for their effectiveness. Not just for their rhetoric, but for their results. Not just for their fight, but for their ability to win.
If we fail to do this, we will not just lose elections, we will lose the very principles we claim to defend.