The party leadership really goofed up or else got too obsessed with crowding out Rand this cycle, because what's happened is the opposite of what is supposed to happen in the Republican primaries. The normal set up is 1-2 strong moderate inside-track candidates are supposed to dominate, courtesy of big donor backing, while a dozen more principled or outsider candidates are supposed to split the right enough to cancel each other out, so the milquetoast guy can win.
Now, it's all flipped, with a dozen milquetoast guys canceling each other out, and the best financed candidate is the outsider. Oh woe, what to do, what to do, scambles the elite, as they search for new ways to fix their crooked system so as to get their milquetoast guys back on top!