Fwiw, the very first political convention I was involved in, right after getting out of the army, pitted conservatives vs. RINOs in the Young Republicans. It was a jolly donnybrook too, I tell ye :-) The conservatives won.
That was {cough}{cough cough} years ago.... whew.
Anyway, the war has been going on a long time.
True confession time! My first convention, there wasn't a RINO in sight. There wasn't a Young Republican in the crowd, I am pretty sure. There wasn't an old Republican in sight. But I did get to see Lonesome George Gobel in person. What could be better than that? Although, in my tender years I was shocked at the language he used. I was shocked that a Catholic may become President as well, not as shocked as a family member who predicted the Pope would rule America.
(I know now Marilyn Monroe played some part and must have been there that day, but my youthful mind could never have handled that.) I got to shake hands with the nominee that fateful day he vaulted into national campaign. It was JFK, candidate. Yes, I was at the Democrat Convention in the Los Angeles Coliseum. My conscience payed dearly for these youthful transgressions and I have attempted restitution.
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.