Let's play a fun game. Let's name the most powerful & influential people in the Republican Party...
...and then let's subtract from that list the people who are currently office-holders, elected by the American people.
Ok, in no particular order:
Rush Limbaugh (never elected)
Sheldon Adelstein (never elected)
Rupert Murdoch (never elected)
Roger Ailes (never elected)
Koch Brothers (never elected)
Antonin Scalia (never elected)
Grover Norquist (never elected)
Reince Priebus (never elected)
Glenn Beck (never elected)
Sean Hannity (never elected)
Bill O'Reilly (never elected)
Donald Trump (never elected)
Condaleeza Rice (never elected)
Liz Cheney (never elected)
Jeb Bush (out of office)
Mitt Romney (out of office; lost election)
Sarah Palin (out of office; resigned)
Newt Gingrich (out of office; resigned)
Tim Pawlenty (out of office; lost nomination)
Mike Huckabee (out of office; lost nomination
Rick Santorum (out of office; lost nomination)
Then there are the also-rans, those who ARE in office but are no longer as powerful or influential as they once were. Ryan failed miserably propping up the Romney/Ryan ticket. Ron Paul championed a movement that seemed to implode after the convention. Jindal is keeping a low profile these days and Perry is a national punchline. Walker and Bachmann are barely still in office; Alan West will be out in a month.
So who's left? In office, influential, and undeniably still a power player in the GOP? A handful. Boehner, Christie, Rubio, Cantor and maybe McConnell. And maybe maybe McCain.
I didn't pull the above names out of thin air--most of them had starring roles at the GOP national convention this year, and all of them are the names one immediately thinks of when we think of today's republican party. But it's gotta be clear right now, so very clear, that most of the influence is wielded by folks who are either out of office or were never in office to begin with. There is a power vacuum in the Republican Party--and nature abhors a vacuum.
It's going to be interesting to watch it unfold...