I think that, in the long run, conservatives must de-legitimize the RINO driven primary system (AKA: Karl Rove run system) currently in place.
Until we put the country-club RINO’s from Harvard and Yale in their place, we will continue to get New England liberal “republicans” in the federal elections.
It HAS TO START with the primaries; make them “closed” to certified contributors/supporters. Make them prove their popularity by eliminating “national” funding for the “preferred local candidate”.
I believe that when conservatives have this level playing field, they are definitely viable (even in Ill-annoy).
Have you contacted any state legisators, about this issue? About half of IL voters, I know, think that we should have wide-open primaries. In Feb. 2002, I heard a radio talk show host say, “I want to vote for John Cox, for the U.S. Senate; and Paul Vallas, for governor, but I can’t do that because Illinois has a stupid primary system that requires you to choose one party, during each primary!!”