In all my years of being on Free Republic, I have never even once come across a purist. Not one time, never.
However, I have come across literally thousands of posts if not FReepers who accuse others of being purists.
I think purists are about as real as unicorns, and about as dangerous an enemy.
The bigger danger is a mindset that strategizes based on an imaginary enemy. Such is the mindset of those who target "purists" when their candidate is given the thumbs-down.
We must be on different FRs. I seem people all the time who are willing to turn on people they previously supported over differences on one relatively tangential issue.