Judging by the number of House and Senate seats, governorships, and state legislative seats it holds, the Republican party is stronger than at any point since the 1920s. Yet, going by the presidential nomination battle alone, the party is a mess. There are too many candidates, a few of whom are distracting the public with their self-aggrandizing shenanigans, spurred on by ratings-hungry cable-news networks.

There are a lot of reasons for this problem, but a big one is the nomination process itself. The current rules of the game in both parties encourage distractions and hamper efforts to unite around shared values. Put simply, the system makes it needlessly hard for the party to reach consensus.