Sane/Non-Trumpist Republicans - why are you still Republicans?

[RINO Tom]

There is nothing I am going to say that hasn't been addressed already, so I'll keep it simple.  I like what the Republican Party could still theoretically be far more than any imagined Democratic Party that I have deemed feasible.  There is no version of the Democratic Party that I could ever envision really being a vehicle for the kind of America that I think would be best, so that leaves me with two options (IMO): remain a Republican or re-register as an Independent.  Remembering that I live in Iowa (a closed caucus state), I find the second option rather unattractive, counterproductive and "part of the problem."  As others have said, the only way the GOP changes to be less like the bad qualities that have been mentioned is for people who are okay with those bad things to be outnumbered.  More and more Independents isn't going to help.  Additionally, as Badger pointed out, I like my local Republicans in Iowa City, and there is absolutely nothing that this area's GOP has done to offend me.  My family, friends and neighbors who are registered Republicans in Johnson County, IA have absolutely no control over what folks in Alabama or any other area of the country, and - while I know some people would roll their eyes at this - I prefer to look at politics through a "long play" lense, and I take a more mid-Twentieth Century attitude toward state parties on some things in that the Iowa GOP has no connection to the Alabama GOP besides its name and that both claim to support American conservatism.  Even though I think it's ridiculous to think I bear some responsibility for ANY Republican ANYWHERE's actions, I definitely don't have anything to do with Republicans from other areas of the country.  It's not like being a Republican or Democrat really affects how you vote in the voting booth, so who cares at the end of the day?  There are several reasons I'm a Republican, and I am not going to let some asshole(s) in Alabama, DC or anywhere else shame me out of being in a party where I see perfectly moral and kind people being GOPers in my actual life every single day.