How the ‘Young Guns’ Failed

A tale of how a party that loses touch with its voters can wander aimlessly for years

Former House speaker Kevin McCarthy’s announcement that he will resign from the chamber at the end of the year concludes the “Young Guns” era. Once touted as the party’s future, McCarthy and his onetime comrades in arms — former speaker Paul Ryan and former house majority leader Eric Cantor — will be all out of office and on the outs with their party’s voters.

Their failure to create the GOP of their dreams would be...