The Republican Party needs candidates that have the ability and burning desire to put the democrats perpetually on the defensive, and to challenge them on all of their own issues. The democrats need to be identified as racist, anti-intellectual, non-progressive, anti-personal freedom, and the party that wants to take away the nest eggs and the health care of the elderly. Every tactic the democrats have used over the past several decades to scare the elderly and other groups about the intentions of the Republicans needs to be preemptively appropriated by the Republicans.
I'm not talking about a ‘fire and brimstone’ angry approach, but more like what Reagan did when he used the line “There you go again”, essentially treating the opposition as untrustworthy and poorly informed children lacking maturity and understanding.