Spreading the message

Conservatives pride themselves on being the the political party members with ideas based on logic and Constitutional principals, over the liberal emotional appeals.
So... how's that working out for us?

How do we explain the failure of conservatives to translate that into winning elections?

Conservatives make the mistake of believing that support of basic conservative principals is universal in the USA. That, if we describe "the other side" as "socialists" or "leftists" or a "liberal," the average citizen will see what a monster the conservative's opponent really is....

Describing the negatives of the liberals will never work. Most Americans couldn't care less about a candidate's professed ideology. Would you buy a Chevy because they spoke poorly of Ford? Then, why does the GOP expect candidates to be elected on the basis of their opponents liberalism? We all saw how that worked out during the last few elections.

What can we provide as a reason to vote for a conservative candidate? Can we describe ourselves without describing the other side as "socialists" or "leftists" as that puts us as the "right wing?" Shouldn't we define ourselves without using terminology that comes from Marxism?
There are as many definitions of "socialist" as there are "conservative." It all depends, not on the definition, as much as it does on the one defining the term. We need to explain our message in such a way that it resonates with the common voter.

It is the job of the GOP to ATTRACT voters to the conservative message, not redefine the term "Republican" as "Democrat-lite." The GOP will not be able to attract these voters by only attacking their opponents or by trying to attract voters with a more liberal message. Would Coca-Cola attract more customers with "Pepsi-lite?" Primarily, conservative candidates need to remind voters of the voters' OWN conservative values, explaining how those values enacted in government would benefit THEM. Attacks should only be done as a way to compare and contrast the respective political stands of the candidates.

Politics is a sales job. All sales are emotional. How can conservatives tap into the emotions that would drive a new customer into buying our product, however we define it? Instead of "re-branding" the GOP message as the product of the Democrats, but, "only better", the GOP needs show make the voter feel good about the voter's conservatism. Reagan was the last conservative to make that work. Instead of "being the next Reagan," our candidates need to be their "own man," but study how the "Great Communicator" spread his message so well.