WHAT TOOK THEM SO LONG? Republican strategists have come to the unnerving conclusion that no one in their party—not even Donald Trump—has absolute influence over the unruly populist movement that swept him into office.

At this point, Conant said, no one can predict how the roiling anger in the conservative electorate will manifest itself during next year’s midterms—but it’s unlikely it will subside anytime soon. “We need to be honest about the fact that there are some powerful people inside the Republican Party who have no interest in governing,” he told me. “They’re focused like a laser on decapitating the party’s leadership, and have no interest in growing the party’s base into a lasting majority.” The resulting dysfunction, he said, will only further inflame voters’ frustrations.

The dysfunction isn’t in the base — it’s in the elected Republicans who can’t or won’t do the things they were elected to do. If the GOP leadership doesn’t want angry voters, they should stop pissing them off.