The chaotic events leading up to Mitt Romney's defeat in the 2012 election indicated how far the Republican Party had rocketed rightward away from the center of public opinion. Republicans in Congress threatened to shut down the government and force a U.S. debt default. Tea Party activists mounted primary challenges against Republican officeholders who appeared to exhibit too much pragmatism or independence. Moderation and compromise were dirty words in the Republican presidential debates. The GOP, it seemed, had suddenly become a party of ideological purity. Except this development is not...

The chaotic events leading up to Mitt Romney's defeat in the 2012 election indicated how far the Republican Party had rocketed rightward away from the center of public opinion. Republicans in Congress threatened to shut down the government and force a U.S. debt default. Tea Party activists mounted primary challenges against Republican officeholders who appeared to exhibit too much pragmatism or independence. Moderation and compromise were dirty words in the Republican presidential debates. The GOP, it seemed, had suddenly become a party of ideological purity.
Except this development is...

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The 2016 elections gave the Republican Party control of both houses Congress and the presidency -- a level of dominance the party had experienced for only six years out of the previous eight decades. Combined with the GOP's victories in state legislatures and governorships since 2010, Republicans held a greater opportunity to reshape the nation than at any time since the 1920s.

And yet, Republican strategists were painfully aware that the party had lost the popular vote in six of the previous seven presidential elections. The presidency...