Conservatism probably doesn't win every time it's tried, but that's a good place from which to craft a platform that's understood by the populace.
Based on what I've seen, the GOP message is milquetoast, thanks to their lies over the years. National GOP pretty much does the bidding of the Chamber of Commerce, in bringing in cheap labor for their constituents.
The Chairman of CA GOP should be an Asian-American. I think GOP has a shot with Asian-Americans. They’re industrious and their values tend to be Conservative. No reason for them to remain Blue especially since Affirmative Action works against them.