Fair enough- I don’t think purity tests for candidates and politicians are the problem so much as purity tests in candidate recruitment- right now, in 2025, in Texas, white men who are competent and have deep roots in their communities are being discouraged from running for open seats and Republican controlled seats on the basis of their demographics.
And then you have the local machines and favored vendors that are coin operated and come with their hands out looking for a piece of the action.
Furthermore, all candidates are subjected to questionnaires and other required positions from The Groups, which I suppose is reasonable on its face but leads to bullshit like “Kamala Harris supports taxpayer funded sex changes for illegal aliens in prison.”
I’d like to see the party rally around an extraordinarily narrow set of things that focus more on who Democrats care about than placating the loudest organizations and most avaricious local bosses under the umbrella.
So all that is to say: winning must come first. It’s not the most important thing. It is, however, the first requirement.