The first step is getting into the arena. WINNING. Any fine words are hollow if you let defeat get snatched out of the jaws of victory here. Merely choosing Milton Friedman over Karl Marx is a massive step in the right direction over where Cali is going in the hands of Democrats.
While I agree with you about the need to win, it is how you get there that makes or breaks you. If we simply adopt the left's agenda and run a candidate with an "R", we will win. Great, we advance their agenda but we won.
So the next course of action would be to run a "stealth" candidate, one who campaigns on liberal issues but is really a conservative. Now you have deceaved the electorate and prove you cannot be trusted.
So finally we put out an actual conservative and show the State what we actually are. If the people don't want us, we should not win. However, most people when you get past the media influence actually agree with us.
So right or wrong, I believe we cannot put forth candidates that are "pale pastels", but need to put forth candidates that use "bold colors" to define who we are.
Lastly, before you talk about Simon (which is the argument against the above) Simon ran a horrible campaign and was going against a Governor that raised more money with his "cash for policy" programs.
Have a nice day!
DD