The loss of Virginia, Nevada, New Hampshire & Colorado to the Dems over the past 20 years has boxed the GOP in.
The drifting of some states to the left: People who have blinders on only see the drift of certain states to the left. They don’t recognize that other states have drifted to the right. Ohio, Florida and Iowa used to be competitive states that have drifted to the right.
We have a theory to describe why elections tend to be close and why it is unusual for any one party to dominate elections. It’s called the Median Voter Theory. Parties are usually flexible enough to appeal to enough voters to each have a fair chance of winning. Outcomes are usually close enough to be determined, at the margin, by results such as how well the economy is doing. During the 1980s, this theory was popularized as The Misery Index.
It seems to me the other side is stuck in a miserable place, with the green agenda, massive redistribution, and being soft on crime and having a foreign policy of appeasing aggressors. Furthermore, their idea that they will win votes based on skin color and other dimensions of identity politics is exaggerated. That might still work with African Americans, but it doesn’t work with, for example, Hispanics. Again, it seems to me, the Democrats are the ones that are boxed in, not the Republicans.