No, you misunderstand the objective. The goal of socialism is to destroy objects of envy, to re-level the playing field. For that socialism works every time.
The ultimate goal for communism is a world in which no one feels envy for anyone else. For this to work every country must be under centralized communist rule.
An envy-free world though is a hollow satanic goal that cannot be achieved. The first problem is that envy is a choice, a cardinal sin committed under free will. Second, envy is inspired from many sources, not just wealth disparity. People not only have different paychecks, they also have different looks, personalities, abilities, talents, families, friends, health, intelligence. Leftists will never reach their state of nirvana, but they will succeed in destroying America.
If we work only with the beliefs of Karl Marx, then to change from a Capitalism based Republic the steps are to push for direct election through democracy where all of the workers have a vote (popular election). Democracy then leads to socialiam and socialism then has communism as its ultimate goal.