Trump beat them....Perot could have beaten them, if he hadn't acted like such a flake.Name one person in the world that could accomplish that? There is none. It's their game and their rules. Rule #1 is "They win, every time."
For better or worse, the populists are now easily the largest constituency in the GOP....Some of the best news about that is that populists aren't ideologues, and can be swayed if you make sense.
But if you've already lost the battle before you've even made any move, what's the point, eh?