[BroJoeK]

LS: "There are very, very real and structurally insurmountable reasons all change must be done by taking over the GOP, not through a third party.
No third party in American history has ever elected any more than a handful of candidates, and only for one or two election cycles at best."

Exactly right.
The practical effect of saying "I'll never vote Republican again," is to put radical Democrats in charge, forever.
It is totally self-defeating & self-destructive, no sane person would do it.

The real problem here is something very different: old-time Southern Democrats for whom having to vote Republican has never stopped galling them and always evoked desires to find some alternative, anything, rather than having to vote for those "d*mn Yankees" devil Republicans!

Their loathing is so strong they'd rather see Communist Democrats rule over us.

[WaldenPond]

Southern democrats havent been a problem for a very long time. Theyve been voting republican. Thats why Georgia turned red during Reagans time.