but it didn't have to be that way. all they had to do was trust that the electorate would reward them for good governance. instead they chose to pander to its worst prejudices. theirs was not the party of hope.

Here's the problem - fundamentally the modern Republican party does not believe in good governance.  There are individuals within the party who do, but the fundamental tenor of the Republican Party is that there's no such thing as "good" governance.

Look at the bulk of their coalition at this point - religious conservatives who see the only purpose of the Federal government as a national stopgap against the expansion of rights to groups that they don't want to see rights extended to (gays and women most notably).  Anti-tax nutbars who see any form of taxation by the government as theft and any attempt at governance as spending stolen money.  Neoconservatives who only see the Federal government as a useful tool for conducting global foreign policy.  Big Business cons who see the Feds as a useful tool for funnelling money into their own pockets.  And, of course, the "know-nothing" contingent who just let their fear and hate control their votes - the groups who want to see fences built at the borders and more bombing runs against scary brown people in the mid-East.  Of course there's some overlap in these groups but none of them are big on "governance".

The only portion of their coalition that has an inkling of good governance are the traditional economic conservatives.  Who are now doing things like retiring without endorsing the Republican on the ticket, or actively endorsing Obama, or in some places (as in Kansas) becoming Democrats because it's clear that the Democrats actually want to have a functioning government and that without good governance the best you can hope for is disaster control.

This is also why the lousiest, most corrupt pols we've seen in decades have been wound up tightly in the Republican machine.  Because if you don't care about good governance you've got nothing stopping you from just openly being a crook.  And if your voters are putting you into office for reasons other than governance - to gut taxes, to stop groups they don't like from getting rights - then they don't really care if you're a crook as long as you deliver.  (Of course the Republicans haven't really delivered on these things to the bulk of their voters either - which is another reason they're doing so poorly now).