They never were abundant, and with teh movement of the Dixiecrats into the Republican Party, tehy're few and far between. However, when you do find one, he may well be worth supporting. Zell Miller, for example, is more conservative than his "Republican" successor.
But when both parties offer liberals, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, if conservatives unite in support of a third, conservative candidate, we can win. And we should do that and not worry about whether it "hurts Republcians." The idea is to get our principles advanced, whether it's by Republicans (occasionally), Democrats (very rarely), or members of some other party or no party at all.
Conservatives first, supporters of our parties second.