The GOP have won one national/presidential election, based on number of votes, since 1988 - in 2004. I understand why they want more restrictions. Their problem is that the gap is widening and so they need the restrictions more and the gerrymandering along side it. That's not a long term strategy, but US politics is too short term. There's plenty of policies that the GOP advocate, traditional conservative policies that would appeal to a wider base, but they have too many extreme elements at the moment, IMV, to make those policies their actual central platform and message. The D's need to be careful they don't go the same way.
the gap is widening misunderstands the dynamic that’s going on. The rs are moving away from being the party of corporate money and foreign wars. The Reagan coalition has been shattered. Obama almost built a new coalition with a permanent majority but he lost working class voters (including minority voters which we’ve noticed a shift in the 2020 election). The d coalition by its nature is unstable: the rich, the suburbs and the poor. It works for example on immigration (cheap labor for the rich in construction and services, recent immigrants get legalization and bringing relatives over, Latino groups expand power). It works less when say groups begin to conflict (like college admissions of Asian demands v African Americans and Latinos). A realignment is very much in play and is based on 3 pillars: election rules (who votes which is why it’s existential), a beloved leader capable of inspiring broad swaths and growing the coalition (Trump and Biden aint it; neither Harris or Pence) and policies which can shape the coalition and which may very well be shaped by outside events such as the pandemic riots or foreign wars.