You are absolutely right.
The primaries are theater for the voters, but the outcomes are clearly bought. Conservative candidates are without the big global money, Wall Street and the Chamber of Commerce, and certainly prey for corrupt media.
Democrats don’t spend a dime against conservatives, because they can depend on the media and the RINOS FOREVER cult to give them the business.
Maybe not bought outright, but both parties have learned that they can control the primary outcomes by soliciting a stalking horse Libertarian candidate to split the disaffected vote, allowing the GOPe candidate to win.
That will be the nature of all future elections.
-PJ