It’s become an autonomic reflex. For any Republican to differ with Donald Trump — much less criticize him whether on policy or manner —  is to be subject to the robotic retort that such questioner is a RINO, short for a Republican in Name Only.

The time has come for such Republicans of long standing, good conscience and truly conservative values to stop living in fear of such a supposed putdown.

Plenty of Republicans tilled the party’s soil and carried its banner long before Donald Trump rode his magic escalator down, down, down. Though some have fled the scene, many remain who will again constitute the party’s backbone well after Trump consumes his final cheeseburger.

To attend a GOP gathering in this moment is to witness plenty of noisemakers in red hats and funny shirts referencing some guy named Brandon to go along with too many appeasers wanting to earn a nod from the MAGA mass. But that is not the totality of the crowd.

Also present most often are a smattering of more traditional Republicans, frequently gawking at the proceedings as if attending a circus in a foreign country and not knowing what to make of the spectacle.

There is an urgent need for such mainstays to come off the sidelines. It is one thing to gawk and spectate. It is something entirely different with higher yield to get back in the arena and fight for the principles to which you have been long committed.

When inevitably rewarded with the affront of being called a RINO, own it but redefine it. Band with noble allies and declare yourselves RINOS, for Republicans in the Name of Sanity.

All of which leads us to the battles currently being waged in Colorado congressional districts 4 and 5. The former is centered in Douglas County and the state’s eastern plains, and is the seat recently vacated by Ken Buck. The latter is the El Paso County district from which Doug Lamborn is departing.

Both districts are GOP bastions, in which a Democrat will be competitive only in the event of an outlandish Republican faceplant. And both feature a frontrunning Republican candidate fully capable of such embarrassment and with a well-honed knack for outrage.

In District 4, the headliner is Lauren Boebert, testing whether “draining the swamp” provides an exemption for blatant, unapologetic carpetbagging.

District 5 offers up perhaps the only Colorado politician capable of out-Boeberting Lauren Boebert. As if the lead character in the 2008 horror film “Swamp Devil,” Dave Williams has demonstrated time and again there is no depth to which he will not sink.

Not only has Williams refused to step down as state Republican chair to pursue his congressional candidacy, but he continues to use party resources, meager as they are, to fund and boost his campaign. That is the very swampy definition of self-dealing.

But Williams does not even bat an eye. His only move is to constantly double-down while pretending to occupy some washed-out moral high ground.

Both Boebert and Williams are creations of these loud, angry times and of a system that functions as if designed to elevate the most extreme, divisive voices.

Neither is remotely the kind of person or political figure that the vast majority of voters in these conservative-leaning districts would select out of a crowd as their chosen representative. But that is not how the process now works.

Both of these troubled, unsavory characters endeavor to rally the most extreme elements of their party and hope that is sufficient to win a low-turnout primary election among a fractured field. Then the capital R after their name should be enough to carry them through November.

So, it is that the likes of Matt Gaetz (whom Williams regards as a role model), Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar increasingly fill the Republican benches in Congress, while their Democratic counterparts, such as Maxine Waters and Rashida Tlaib, are growing their numbers on that side of the aisle.

The math here is rather simple. Given that Boebert, Deborah Flora, Jerry Sonnenberg, Mike Lynch and Richard Holtorf have all qualified for the ballot, perhaps along with one or two lesser names, a divided, multi-candidate affair seems in the offing with the winner perhaps receiving less than a third of the vote. Boebert is well positioned to be that victor with the largest fraction.

A similar situation seemed to be unfolding in District 5, which appeared headed to a primary field of Williams, Jeff Crank and respected legislator Bob Gardner. However, that three-way contest was abated in the last few days when Gardner’s petitions were ruled insufficient.

Williams would have been the favorite with the vote split three ways. But, now, in a two-way, head-to-head matchup, he may struggle to get to 50%. Crank’s prospects of sending Williams back to his private swamp have dramatically improved.

Returning to District 4, a number of Republicans, including some of stature who have paid their dues, are facing a decision. Ms. Flora and Messrs. Sonnenberg, Lynch and Holtorf: You can all indulge your ambitions and play the spoiler while likely handing the seat all likely lose to the interloper. Or you can read the handwriting on the wall and unite behind one challenger to Boebert.

Flora and Sonnenberg seem to be the best positioned. Maybe they should draw straws.

There are two paths available. One features a laughingstock ticket of Boebert, Williams and perhaps even Ron Hanks in Boebert’s old territory. That would indicate a party ever narrower and less serious, intent only on further circling the drain.

The other path presents a ticket of Flora or Sonnenberg, Crank and Jeff Hurd on the Western Slope. That would be an adult group of respectable, intelligent conservatives, serious in demeanor and ideology. It might even signal a party with designs on a comeback.

Say it loudly and proudly, Republicans: “We are RINOS and welcome the taunt. We reject lunacy in favor of sanity.”

Eric Sondermann is a Colorado-based independent political commentator. He writes regularly for Colorado Politics and the Gazette newspapers. Reach him at EWS@EricSondermann.com; follow him at @EricSondermann