We’ve done it your way twice and are 0-2.
Time to try something else. Clearly nominating moderates is a loser policy.
Actually, nominating/running moderates is a trend in the GOP—Think Gerald Ford, George H. W. Bush (who rode Reagan’s coat-tails to a single term), Bob Dole, John McCain, and, most recently, Mitt Romney. George W. Bush was a moderate/lib as well, but benefitted from the War on Terror. The exception here is Ronald Reagan, who won two landslides by running, and governing, as a true conservative.
There are none so blind as those who will not see.