I think where I land on this is agreeing with Dave Smith, although I think I'd take it a little further.

I have absolutely no interest in "purifying" the Republican Party, because I want to murder it. The very first Republican president was Abraham Lincoln, who will always been seen as the model Republican. Abraham Lincoln, while doing many righteous things, also took a very hard stance in solidifying the Republican party as the "Central, Federal, Executive Strength" party. In many ways, Lincoln really created the federal beast we see today. There's simply no way you can purify the Republican party to the point where they're going to recognize that Lincoln was in the wrong on that front. The Republican Party will always be the "Be Big and Strong" party.