"The Republican Party is constructed as a machine: Into one end are fed the atavistic fears of the white working class as grist, and out the other end pops The Wall Street Journal editorial-page agenda as the finished product." -- Jonathan Chait
I think that relationship has broken down in the last several years, though: the holders of the "atavistic fears of the white working class," who were supposed to show up and vote Republican based on vague assurances that never amounted to very much, have recognized that while the Wall Street Journal editorial-page agenda was ALWAYS served by the Party, their concerns always seemed to run into some insurmountable barrier that kept them from being addressed.
So now the atavistic fears of the white working class are the central platform of the Trumpublican Party, and while the Wall Street Journal editorial-page agenda STILL gets served as faithfully as possible, it's done much more quietly than previously.