I think Republicans don't actually care about the general public, and pander to a "special" group -- rich one-percenters who are all about control, control, control.
This seems utterly ridiculous to me. I mean, I can just as easily say the republican party has always been the party of equality, and the democratic party remains the party of special groups as it always has. There are democratic candidates who will back me over and over again, pandering to special groups, and giving special deals to corporations. Members of both parties are associated with corruption so there's always going to be scape goats. There are republicans who say the same thing about "democrats", but just because there's a few fire eaters and brutes right now, not all of the democrats are corrupt and abusive of power.
It's fine to participate in a political party, but if you are going to vote you should have an informed vote for individuals seeking to serve their jurisdiction, not along party lines. Obviously there are times when a strong candidate will come along in either party and they should be selected through a fair election process, and the party hacks will take note. Do you really want the republican party to get all its feedback from those vile and ignorant deplorables who are voting for the evil one-percenters over and over again? There are certainly some candidates in the democratic party right now that I would like to oust in the primaries, and would not vote for in the general elections. I tend to disagree with their economic policies, and I have my views on regulations and public services, but I would take no issue voting for a qualified republican, and waiting until a democrat comes along who will act in the interest of their constituents. If someone says they'll protect the constitution and wants to cut some fat and a few benefits along with taxes, I'll take that for a couple years.