You miss the point. They don’t care if they win at that point. As long as they can put down the conservative opposition, they don’t care if the democrat wins. They won’t have to split off many votes to guarantee a Hilary or Sanders win.
But they care very, very much about their own jobs. That's what this is all about. If we primaried every GOPe running, especially Ryan, they would be spread too thin.
Newcomers running with Trump can take GOPe and even purple areas, because Trump will have coattails. Trump pulls a significant number of blacks our way. Run black republicans that stand with Trump on immigration in close districts with heavy black populations. We can take districts we normally can't.
Then let's see who gets elected speaker next congress.