Having worked for their state party several years back, it was a joke. The candidates were not interested in running on what they could realistically achieve in a term or two. They insisted on running on their end game (eliminating the Department of education, etc.). Then, they wondered why they only got 1% of the vote. I tried to tell them, "Focus on realistic goals. State that you want to cut the federal budget by 5% over two terms. Then, run again on continuing to make incremental cuts to the budget until you get to your goal. It is much more palatable to the general public than 'I want to cut everything not Constitutionally mandated and I want to do it immediately.'" Their response was, "I am not going to sacrifice my ideals."
OK. Enjoy your 1%.