Conventions do not necessarily provide a solution to the “problem” you pose. If you want to attend a convention, the following is on the form you have to sign (example from here).

I have read the Qualifications for Participation and affirm that I am in accord with the principles of the Republican Party, and state my intention to support the nominees of the Republican Party in the ensuing election. If I have participated in the nomination process of a party other than the Republican Party since March 1, 2004, I hereby renounce any affiliation with that party.

I suspect the best solution would be to get government out of the business of regulating the operation of political parties. The government should act to prevent fraudulent practices, but it should not tell political parties how they have to do their business. With wide open competition for members, I expect the Republican Party would have little interest in putting up this particular barrier to membership.

Even given the current situation, this barrier, this loyalty pledge, is counterproductive. The people it keeps out are honorable people who take giving their pledge seriously. Those are exactly the people any political party should want.

If you cannot support Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain or Mitt Romney, why would you want to participate in a Republican primary? Like it or not these men are representative of the Republican Party.

Only a mindless adherence to party loyalty would say that someone who considers themselves Republican enough that they want to influence who the nominee is would be obligated to support the eventual nominee — even if that nominee went completely against what they believed in.

I understand the concern with “outsiders” influencing party matters, but if they RPV really wants to deal with that they have two choices:

1. Call a convention or,

2. Change Virginia law to end open primaries.

The loyalty oath is a feature of the Republican Party. I do not like it either, but I understand the motivation for it, and I doubt it will go away soon. Even if you attended a Republican convention, there would be a loyalty pledge.

I also understand that most Republicans prefer party registration; I do not. Like you, I would prefer the government stay almost entirely out of the matter.

For much the same reasons as we try to keep our government out of the business of promoting religion, we should keep government out of the business of establishing political parties. We use political parties to voice the will of the People. Proper government echos the will of the People. When government control becomes excessive, the People and their political parties voice the will of government.

Consider that incumbent politicians are often reelected running under a party’s label even when a party’s rank and file cannot stomach them. At the same time, due to excessive government regulation, it has become ridiculously difficult to establish a viable third party. Hence, the two big parties have little control over incumbent officials and the People have little choice between candidates.

We have so regulated political parties that they have weak voices. Unfortunately, most people are not even aware there is a problem. So the problem is difficult to repair. Still, there are possibilities. The solution depends upon People getting involved and demanding their voice back via the political party of THEIR choice.