Sounds about right

David Brooks writes:

Somehow the Romney campaign seems less like an authentic conservative campaign than an outsider's view of what a conservative campaign should be. It oversimplifies everything, and underexploits the G.O.P.'s vestigial longing for efficient administration.

Merriam-Webster sez:

vestige
Main Entry: ves·tige
Pronunciation: \ˈves-tij\
Function: noun

1 a (1): a trace, mark, or visible sign left by something (as an ancient city or a condition or practice) vanished or lost (2): the smallest quantity or trace b: footprint 1
2: a bodily part or organ that is small and degenerate or imperfectly developed in comparison to one more fully developed in an earlier stage of the individual, in a past generation, or in closely related forms

— ves·ti·gial \ve-ˈsti-jē-əl, -jəl\ adjective

I think Brooks has quite deftly describe the Republican commitment to efficient administration.