Rand can't control the circumstances (Trump, Bernie, ISIS), which undoubtedly hurt him.
But he can control his communication/messaging. Unless he accepts communication coaching, he shouldn't bother running again. To wit:
1) He doesn't drive home his points so that the sheeple understand how his policies would be to their benefit:
a. He expresses noninterventionism militarily, so the sheeple perceive him as weak; he needs to close the sale by explaining that wars are expensive, and if we change course we can eliminate the income tax/IRS, while actually being safer from absence of blowback. Those things
are left unsaid by Rand.
b. He expresses opposition to the NSA surveilance, so the sheeple perceive him as weak; he needs to close the sale by explaining that the NSA is expensive, and if we abolish it we can eliminate the income tax/IRS, while regaining our privacy from a government we cannot trust. Those things are left unsaid by Rand.
c. He expresses concern for a national debt of 19 million, but the sheeple can't count so their eyes glaze; he needs to close the sale by explaining that debt is expensive, and if we change course we can eliminate the income tax/IRS. That is left unsaid by Rand.
d. He says end the drug war, so the sheeple perceive him as soft on crime; he needs to close the sale by explaining that the drug war is expensive, and if we change course we can eliminate the income tax/IRS, while actually being more humane. Those things are left unsaid by Rand.
e. Insert dozens of other examples.
2) He must lose the uninspiring 'Read the bills', 'we need a party that looks like America', etc....it's just a waste of breath and comes off as pandering. He can complain that politicians don't read the bills, and that he's been to Detroit, in a stump speech, but he has to stop leading with it in interviews and on a debate stage.
3) He has to remember that he's running in a Republican primary, not a Democrat primary. A main reason he didn't do better is that people wonder why he's not running as a Democrat. He needs to lead with the red meat - smaller government, elimination of the Income Tax/IRS, government corruption/cronyism - and save much of the rest for the general election.
