Social issues, as the liberals call them, fuel the spending of the overall government in ways that the average uninformed Republican primary voters cannot discern.
While I agree, letting up on the social issues as a litmus test will help rally behind someone who is a lot more conservative than we have been getting. If we get folks who believe in the Constitution and allowing States to handle issues that aren't designated as being under the purview of the Federal government, things will begin to self-correct IAW what the People really believe. We won't have a DOJ suing the hell out of States that try to assert their rights and we won't have a "president" running rogue while the Congress (both houses) sits idly by.
When we focus on an across-the-board platform of social issues/abortion/homosexuals/immigration there will never be the "perfect" candidate that can be rallied behind.
These, while all important and having ill effects on our Freedoms, are all symptoms of the disease. The disease is politicians who hold no stock in the Constitution and feel that the Federal government trumps all - including the States. We allowed a united-front series of leftists to inch their agendas little-by-little over more than half a century. There will be no quick fix as so many seem to expect. We will have to claw our way back via the same dogged methodology and address one issue at a time if we are to make headway without being constantly distracted to total ineffectiveness.