I don't think he misses it completely: "... two things that the Republican establishment has resolutely refused to do..."
But your's is a very good point. It's like a Gresham's Law for politics. We've had a train of absolutely wicked impostors leading the GOP since Reagan (I include W) but I've always been optimistic that someday we'd get a real conservative candidate. However, the impostors have apparently, by quantitative dilution, succeeded in destroying what "conservative" means.
” the impostors have apparently, by quantitative dilution, succeeded in destroying what “conservative” means.”
Exactly. Well put.