On Sunday, Douthat wrote, “In an unhealthy system, the kind I suspect we inhabit, the Republicans will find a way to crush Trump without adapting to his message. In which case the pressure the Donald has tapped will continue to build — and when it bursts, the G.O.P. as we know it may go with it.”

Yes, exactly. The Republican Party is dying because the GOP in DC has gone corporate and K Street. They attack any Republicans who dare hold them to their promises. They’ve gone to war against Heritage Action for America, Club For Growth, the Madison Project, etc. They’ve blackballed any political consultant who does work for outsiders.

But even more importantly, the GOP protects their failed consultants who keep bringing in the bacon.

The Project ORCA guys are doing quite well. The guys who collapsed Voter Vault are doing well. The idiots who run outreach for the GOP go out and form consultancy groups, then get embedded within the NRCC, NRSC, or RNC itself and hand contracts back to themselves.