Their first idea was that replacing Pelosi with Boehner was going to help get rid of Obama. That worked out to be a disastrous plan, Boehner has mostly strengthened Obama, except for the oil pipeline issue.
Then there was the hope that Palin would jump in and wave a magic wand and make Dems go away, all while drawing 6 figures from FNC.
Failing those two ‘plans’ it's been the ABMR musical chair game. Pinning all hopes on a charismatic Republican hero as POTUS candidate was not a very good plan, at least it looks bad now.
If (phony) Romney gets the nomination he would need some real luck to win now. Like gas prices $6 per gallon in October.