I’m afraid I have to object to the premise of your last question. The last time(s) “we” backed a real, no-shit conservative was Ronald Reagan. He wasn’t perfect by any means, but he was arguably the best president of the 20th century and, in my opinion, one of the four or five best ever. Since then, we’ve had GHWB, Bob Dole, GWB, John McCain and Mitt Romney. I would argue that we lose when we DON’T back the purest (to use your term) candidate - even when we win the election, i.e., GHWB and GWB.
I agree with you however, this ain’t the 80’s anymore. There’s a whole slew of indoctrinated voters out there.