I don’t that’s the case at all. The Party is actually in great shape when measuring elective office. We have good margins at every level from Senate and House down to the state houses.
Trump is succeeding for one simple reason. The political class has been such a massive failure for the past 10+ years that many voters are simply tuning them out. It’s why Cruz, Trump and Carson have utterly dominated the primaries. WELL over half the voters are rejecting every political class option, and that includes Rubio, Paul and Christie who at times were each darlings of the base voters. Voters have tried everything to stop the BS, and nothing has even slowed down. Trump is outside the system and at the same time a master of media. He has simply dominated the discussion from his first day in the race and voters are ignoring the party smart people.
Numerous studies are crystal clear that you are correct.
This nation has not been this Republican since the late 1920s
There are more elected Republicans everywhere at every level than anytime in history.
The ongoing ramifications of this are massive. With more local power, Republicans make life for Democrats more difficult at an organizational basis.
State legislatures and governors have huge powers and they are largely unscrutinized.
Obama has galvanized Republican advocacy like never before.