Having participated if the "process" as a delegate to the Alaska Republican Party Convention in 2012, I can state, without reservation or malice, the ARP was (and likely remains) a thoroughly corrupt institution. 

My estimate:  in 2012 close to half of nationwide delegates showed up (many for the first time) to support  limited government, fiscal responsibility and oppose the surveillance /police state and endless wars.  Those folks were simultaneously branded racists by the left and marginalized by the neocon controlled right.  

The ARP can cry a river for all I care...same goes for the DNC, which is just the other side of the same coin.