Term limits may have caused some folks to wait until next time to run. Patrick Henry didn't run for the Virginia House of Burgesses to get along with his colleagues, particularly the ones wearing powdered wigs. Neither did Sam Adams up the road in Massachusetts, nor did John Quincy Adams. They ran to implement an agenda, as have many since, from Abe Lincoln to Teddy Roosevelt. And that, folks, is the other real problem.
Party platforms are open jokes.
Political parties have degenerated into vehicles for soft campaign money and little more. The real phenomenon was that anybody cared enough about it to take it over. It shows at all levels of government. People get elected as nominal members of a political party not based on any set agendas. Political parties used to resolve most internal differences before the election, not after.