You describe a very common experience in all political parties. People often join local political clubs to gain status (as in I'm the president, of such and such club). Others join to promote their businesses. Some join for companionship. And some join in order to evangelize. As a result, these clubs can get pretty petty, even ugly.

But every once in a while, someone who knows civics really well joins and things change. I've seen that happen enough times to think that civic knowledge is the key to political strength and coalition building.

By civic knowledge, I'm talking about people who know how government works at the local, county, and state levels, where people can be the most effective and have the biggest impact on their communities

Perhaps the place to start, is to get a group of people together to build civic training programs in local communities. The one I attended was one of the most empowering experiences ever.