Hate to tell you scooter... But your party is already split.
That same "split" was there in 2016, and Trump won anyway because the NeverTrump faction is so small. But there is no way in hell for any Republican to win the presidency, or for the GOP to hold on to the Senate, if you lose the 40% of the party that are hardcore Trump supporters. And you can't have another nominee without alienating all those people. You guys like talking about reality, and
that's reality. You may dislike those people, but they are currently are a plurality -- at least -- in the party.
As for the idea that 2016 was somehow the exception because Hillary was their worst possible candidate, I disagree. Hillary was perceived as sufficiently moderate that she attracted support from some more moderate Republicans. And from some of the money that normally supports Republicans. But if the Dem nominee is a hard leftist like Sanders or Warren, they're going to be flatly unacceptable to a lot of moderates.
Heck, Tulsi Gabbard has come out and blasted her fellow Democrats for favoring an open border -- that's not something even Hillary supported. But thanks to Julian Castor, every single one of the likely nominees is now on record as supporting the decriminalization of entering the country illegally. And that's a very unpopular position with most voters.