That's basically the way I see. I am willing to give Rand a lot of leeway. I think he is trying to unite traditional conservatives and the more libertarianish conservatives - and that is a very good thing if it can be done.
Yes, I very much agree. There is a vast untapped reservoir of voters, including both the independents and conservative democrats as well as those you cite, who have no place to go on election day. If they vote, they are voting merely out of habit and a vague sense of past loyalties.
obama has been clarifying the progressive position and rallying the troops around him, but the eGOP has no position other than to compromise with whatever progressive idea is popular in the moment and then spend what it thinks will keep them viable.
This is the vacuum that remains to be filled and it's growing.