Actually, the Republicans may be playing this smart. A lot of things can change between now and November, and issues that may seem urgently important right now may be off the minds of most voters by November.
A read a recent article about how Newt Gingrich orchestrated the 1994 GOP takeover of Congress, and there are a lot of similarities between today and then. One important element of his strategy was that they stayed away from controversial issues and constructed the "Contract With America" around a set of specific "no brainer" measures that were overwhelmingly popular as the campaign season progressed through the summer and early fall.
Check this out, if you haven’t seen it yet - Rick Scott’s “Rescue America” plan...
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4040568/posts
I just heard of it but seems possibly quite promising.