Ted Cruz must be weeping right now.
To be fair, Ted Cruz weeps at the drop of a hat. It's part of his schtick. So let's say you're the GOP. What's your play? I mean, your process has led to a historically-noteworthy dead end. You have a ticket that's rotting from the top down. Your chosen contender largely pays lip service to your platform and he's redefining "toxic" in a way that makes you fondly remember the Tea Party insurrection. Meanwhile the Evangelicals have abandoned you, your party organ is going down in flames, your voter base is aging rapidly and the only coherent message you seem to be able to communicate is one of hatred and prejudice. What's your play? I think Priebus et. al. continue to distance themselves from the candidate, save their powder for the Senate races they think they can win, continue to shore up state and local legislatures and begin to strategize on subverting the Libertarian vote. After all, they're the only conservatives with youth and money and you don't have to ditch the NRA or any of your business lobby. And, bonus points, you get the Koch brothers back. Related note, Samantha Bee has a great two-parter on the rise of the religious right: Edit: and this is chilling.
If they go full libertarian, they'll lose the evangelicals for sure. But, maybe that's not such a bad thing if they don't have any other option to vote for
Chilling for sure. So calculated and so successfully executed.