Gabriel Gomez, Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, center, gives a thumbs up while standing on the stage next to his daughter Olivia, before a victory speech at a watch party, in Cohasset, Mass., Tuesday, April 30, 2013. (Courtesy of AP)

Massachusetts Republicans have a rare opportunity to get excited about an election, after a recent poll shows their candidate for U.S. Senate down only four points. Of course national Republicans aren’t as excited, because this candidate is a “RINO.”

RINO, or Republican in Name Only, is a derogatory term that refers to politicians who while a member of the Republican party, don’t toe the party line on every single vote.

There are some who are outraged that politicians could agree with only a majority of the positions of the GOP and still call themselves Republicans. Those seeking purity within their party at the expense of political power frequently target these RINOs in primaries, the nature of which makes for a particularly dangerous situation. There will always be a Michele Bachmann or an Allen West willing to comfort the fringe with misinformation and impossible promises, a level most RINOs are unwilling to stoop down to.

In the specific case of the special election in Massachusetts, Gabriel Gomez survived the primary. Gomez, a former Navy Seal, is now being accused of being a RINO because six years ago he donated to Obama’s campaign and more recently touted himself an ally of Democratic governor Deval Patrick.

While nationally this has caused the base of the GOP to roll their eyes at those crazy loons from Taxachusetts, the voters there are very happy with him. Donating to Obama in 2008 and liking Deval Patrick are two things that Gomez has in common with a large portion of the Massachusetts electorate. This is precisely why he has a chance at winning.

What most members of the RINO hunting crowd don’t realize is that in some places the Michele Bachmanns and Allen Wests of the world can’t win elections, and Republicans occasionally will have to settle for 70 percent agreement from politicians from states with only a 15 percent Republican population.

Now obviously Gabriel Gomez would not be an ideal candidate in a place like Utah or Alabama, but Massachusetts is a very different place. For a Republican to win, they need to win not only more than 60 percent of the Independent vote, but they also need a sizable portion of Democrats to switch over. This isn’t easy, but Gomez is the kind of candidate who can do this. He has a lot of the same crossover appeal that Scott Brown had three years ago.

Running candidates like Gomez nationally would not be a good idea. Conservatives can do better in many parts of the country. But luckily, the rest of the country doesn’t resemble Massachusetts politically. Nowhere else could a man who donated to Obama win a Republican primary. He’d still be better than any Democrat from that state, and shouldn’t be brushed off by GOP activists nationwide. Electing him would represent a slight rightward shift for the state, and that opportunity shouldn’t be ignored.

Keene is a junior majoring in political science, economics and public policy.