Well, I think most of this is very on target. But rather than agree with his final theory, I think it is more about establishment Republican's rock solid belief in the first theory/plan of action -- the be more democratish plan. And arrogance that is unwilling to see the failure of the plan. And spinelessness has made them unable to see the time to actually act on principle. Perhaps they just have no principle anymore, just a lust for power. So there is no plan beyond the pursuit of power for power's sake.
That's pretty much my conclusion. I don't have some naive view of political parties as agents of winning ideological battles for the good of the country, just agents of winning elections. If it's viewed in that context, it's simple logic.
The problem comes when we actually believe that a party exists for anything more than that.