[The Duke]

"A presidential candidate — especially a Republican — has to bring solid, concrete ideas to the table."

I disagree. Reality is a moving target. More than "ideas", we need a vision. It might be as simple as "A shining city on the hill".

[dforest]

People aren’t going to listen to a candidate talk about how the sausage is made.

You have a good point about vision. That vision has to be articulated by a person who the people see as trustworthy in order to do everything possible to deliver it.