[mrsmith]

Why did the big donors insist upon a candidate that did not “match well with our party”?
That’s such an obvious recipe for failure.
Yet they could have guaranteed the Republican candidate’s failure just as well by denying funding to any candidate.

Why spend money to get what they can have for free?

[GeronL]

Yet they could have guaranteed the Republican candidate’s failure just as well by denying funding to any candidate

They will save that move for a conservative

[okie01]

Why did the big donors insist upon a candidate that did not “match well with our party”?

Simple. Because the Big Donors don't "match well with the party", either.

In their view, the "base" is a mob of Bible-thumping, gun-toting redneck hicks.

It explains why they're so anxious for amnesty -- they want a more civilized class of voters.