The Republican Party is disintegrating. I guess they just didn't know what to do with the power once they got it.
It's a terrible process, but interesting to watch all at the same time. The GOP has actually been fragmenting since 1998 when the moderates and liberals in the party got scared they were going to be completely and permanently out of power soon. The rampant big-government liberalism of the current Administration, coupled with the sheer stupidity and invertebrate nature of the current Congress has accelerated the process.
For interesting parallels, read about the disintegration of the Whig party around the time of the Civil War. A perfect illustration of what Sir Winston Churchill (and others) have said: Those who learn nothing from history are doomed to repeat it.