“...This is a Republican/Conservative failing that goes way back. ...”
I think this is part & parcel of the major Republican/Conservative failing. Purity before power !
Republican/Conservative factions fight over whose the most pure that is who is: the most Reaganite, Trumpite, whose the best religiously, etc. before they ever get power.
Rats want power period !
They fight over purity later, Divide up the spoils among its factions if need be, eliminate the least pure factions if need but all done after power !
Rats have a ruthlessness for power that intimidates most Republican/Conservatives.
Guess what? Ruthlessness almost always wins ! Example the Russian Revolution. The Bolsheviks were very very much a minor faction amongst the Russian social revolutionary movement but they were the most ruthless. And who won?
There is even analysis to the effect that during the French Revolution, the aristocracy thought that it simply needed to bring to light the bad that was happening. That is magical thinking. They got their heads chopped off.
Good example of the Bolsheviks. The only Right-wing movements that have ever successfully resisted the Left have not been squeamish about using power. Franco and Pinochet come to mind. We don’t have one of those.