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It's been about four months since Republicans struggled through a difficult election cycle, and a five-member Republican National Committee panel has been hard at work coming up with a series of proposals intended to help get the party back on track. Last week, RNC Chair Reince Priebus offered a hint: he didn't want MSNBC to host debates for Republican presidential candidates.
Today, however, Priebus went into considerably more detail, publishing a 100-page report called the Growth and Opportunity Project" -- or G.O.P. -- intended to be an autopsy on what went wrong and a roadmap for what the party should do next.
Culled from more than 52,000 contacts with voters, party consultants and elected officials, it calls for drastic changes to almost every major element of the modern Republican Party.
"When Republicans lost in November, it was a wake-up call. And in response I initiated the most public and most comprehensive post-election review in the history of any national party," Priebus said Monday morning at the National Press Club. "As it makes clear, there's no one reason we lost. Our message was weak; our ground game was insufficient; we weren't inclusive; we were behind in both data and digital; our primary and debate process needed improvement."
The entirety of the report is online here.
When it comes to issues, one of the document's biggest surprises is that it explicitly calls on Republican policymakers to "embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform," a policy many, if not most, congressional Republicans remain deeply skeptical of.
On a related note, Priebus seems eager, if not desperate, to expand the party's outreach to minority communities, and he committed this morning to an initial $10 million investment. Of course, what the RNC will tell these communities remains something of a mystery -- no amount of outreach can overcome GOP policy goals such as "self deportation" and "the most sweeping voting restrictions since Jim Crow."
The RNC chief also talked up the idea of throwing all kinds of party money at technological infrastructure, though the RNC has said this before and failed miserably.
But in addition to immigration, there are some other entirely unexpected elements to the RNC's new approach.
I was amazed, for example, when Priebus said, in reference to his party's outreach to LGBT voters, "I think Sen. Portman made some pretty big inroads last week. I think it's about being decent. I think it's about dignity and respect, that nobody deserves to have their dignity diminished, or people don't deserve to be disrespected."
Given Republican standards, what Reince was expected to say was, "We believe marriage is between a man and a woman," but it's not. He didn't go so far as to endorse Portman's line or even say whether he agreed with it, but the RNC chairman made it seem as if the party is now willing to tolerate dissent on this hot-button issue in ways that (a) are a departure from the recent past; and (b) are likely to infuriate the religious right movement.
Also note, the new document added a point that "third-party groups that promote purity are hurting our electoral prospects." The RNC didn't name names, but the line reinforces the perception of growing tension between the party establishment and a far-right activist base, including the Club for Growth. The simmering "civil war," in other words, is far from over, and the party's new report may yet make these divisions more pronounced.
There was also this amazing paragraph in the report:
"We have to blow the whistle at corporate malfeasance and attack corporate welfare. We should speak out when a company liquidates itself and its executives receive bonuses but rank-and-file workers are left unemployed. We should speak out when CEOs receive tens of millions of dollars in retirement packages but middle-class workers have not had a meaningful raise in years."
Let me get this straight: when Democrats say this, it's socialistic class warfare, but when the RNC says the same thing, it's fine?
Priebus also seems almost preoccupied with debates, hoping to prohibit their existence before Sept. 1, 2015, and limiting the total number of debates to no more than a dozen. Candidates who balk will risk the RNC stripping them of delegates.
The point of this is likely two fold. First, the debates push the candidates to pander to extremist candidates and stake out positions well to the right of the mainstream. Fewer debates means fewer problems that are easily thrown into attack ads. Second, debates are critical for upstart candidates with limited financial resources -- the RNC, then, wants to help stack the deck a bit for establishment candidates with more money and better name recognition.
Similarly, the RNC is eying a compressed nominating calendar -- wrapping up the primaries no later than mid-May, with a convention to follow in late June or July. This, too, further helps the party establishment influence the outcome by giving the early favorites a better chance of early success, followed by a longer general election phase.
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I'd note that the entire report doesn't address the geographic realities of the current GOP...no mention that being captured by the south [and its "values"] has left the party at a huge national disadvantage...
That's why I think you are looking at them trying to make a push North and do some political reconstruction...think about who the big players they have in the bull pen are...Christie for starters...then there are the Governors and other people they are obviously grooming for top slots in Wisconsin, Michigan Ohio and Pennsylvania...if they can combine those people with the right voting scheme they will basically flip 4-6 "Blue" states
Dragoon: Those govs are unpopular at home, so they don't project nationwide. Corbett is toast, Walker did not graduate college, Snyder is power crazy, and Kasich got his crap handed to him about unions. Christie is popular, but not in his own party and his allure wll wear off once people realize he vetoed gay marriage.
I know that but I am saying this is part of a longer game...It's a matter of where they are going to spend their time and resources. The South is a lock and they aren't going to loose it anytime soon, so there is no need to spend money there or try and change their image.
In the North though even if this current crop gets tossed out they have still done the dirty work and that lets someone "Clean" come in and play to the same base that elected them and try and present themselves as slightly more mainstream.
The big problem for them is that the Southernists determined after the "treason" of the Democrats 50 years ago over civil rights, that the next national party they would ally with would not be allowed to deviate from total support of Southernism and its "peculiar institutions." So while national Democrats like FDR could put forward progressive political programs so long as they left Southern Jim Crow in place, the Republicans no longer have that option. Priebus may want to let the South stew in its juices, but the South isn't going to allow that.
Also, does his program include buying Pepto Bismol in industrial quantities so all these white boys can safely go to those minority communities and eat their "spicy food"?
Well there is a sort of "Third way" on this...
The GOP allows itself to split regional and effectively becomes two separate national parties...the southern more Social issue driven party and the Northern more financial business party...
It get's a lot of people what they want and keeps a lot of peoples hands clean...the national GOP wouldn't get tarred by people like Akin and Murdoch and the wing nuts can rail against "The Establishment"
win/win
It is not a "Southern" problem. It is a .1% problem. The Koch-Rove-Ailes "wedge and win, strategy aided by the Faith-based Initiative money have enabled the Republicans to get enough "anti-" issues to resonate with enough voters to win in state after state (Republicans control 25 legislatures and 30 governors.) The most active group that votes are the anti-abortionists.
Another problem is that the Democratic message doesn't come through in media market after media market. FoxNews and similar media dominate both radio and television in more and more places. Until the media monopoly is broken up, there will be no freedom of speech as the Constitution envisioned it and censorship of speech will continue to be rampant.
Let's not forget the ability of GOP spin artists. They are quite capable of pretending to be your best friend and then after they are in power you discover they're your worst nightmare.
The only thing worse than Republican apologetic flim-flam is the gullibility of the American voters that buy it.
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"captured by the south [and its "values"] "
Yeah! Like lumping a whole region and group of people together and assuming they all think alike and are the same. Thank goodness "we" haven't done that!
@Albert Cat
I wasn't doing any such thing...I was referring to the southern elites attitudes towards governance, taxation, labor, and safety nets, plus the region's general attitudes towards religion and race. The policy preferences and general behavior of today's GOP, including most of the current Midwestern Republican governors, reflect those belief systems.
Sorry I wasn't clearer.
PS
Here's a recent article on how the southern dominance of the House of Representatives is causing the party major headaches.
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2013/03/15/How-the-South-is-Bringing-Down-the-Grand-Old-Party.aspx#page1
Could this be the end of Dick Morris? Carl Rove and Newtie? Doubt it.
That would be one of the best things to happen to this country if those three went home and never opened their mouths again.
Not at all, this reminds me the Mayors in big cities
who just happen to fix the potholes every 4TH year
just a few months before an election.
Then its back to the business as usual.
That was a funny line, because it doesn't take much push for them to jump in head first, foot in mouth.
Plot away, you can't save a sinking ship that has been scuddled.
Furthermore, it wasn't a matter of "the thirteenth debate was one too many", they were pandering to the lunatic fringe long before they saw a Klieg light or sat in the makeup chair.
When do think Reince will realize that only extremist candidates will be tolerated by the Conservatives? They're not pushed or shoved; they're cannonballing in from all around the pool of slime. Great visual of feet in mouths, tho. Kudos!
Fewer debates means less face time on television. How that can be viewed as a positive is above my pay grade.
Todd Akin. Richard Mourdock.
It's the POTUS, not a state race. Unknown candidates don't fare well. Us junkies know Rand Paul all too well, but most folks could not pick him out of a lineup. If they limit the amount of debates, they end up running against Hilary Clinton with a stranger to the American people...
Maybe fewer debaters would help but they would still have crazy in abundance.
The GOP's basic message is I'll cut your taxes and gut your government. Just doesn't have appeal to everyone.
"The GOP's basic message is I'll cut your taxes and gut your government."
I would vote for that GOP. The current GOP's message is "we'll continue to over-tax the middle-class and shunt it to rich white people while enacting the Evangelical version of Sharia Law at every level of government."
http://thegamedesigner.blogspot.com/2012/11/middle-aged-white-man-denounces-gop.html
@Clay Dreslough #4.4
That's a pretty persuasive blog post you wrote there. One problem I see:
I'm pretty darned certain that Republicans have always been opposed to using tax policy to cajole preferred behaviors.
In other words, carbon copy the Democratic party enough to get elected, then move on with the real agenda.
If successful, the Republican Party becomes the new Reich.
If you look closely this report isn't just a summation of what went wrong...this is the first whack at driving in the wedge to separate the wing-nuts and extremists from mainline GOP candidates...
The establishment knows that the wackos arent going to let this slide and will splinter themselves off...effectively "Self Deporting" themselves from the GOP tent. That allows more moderate republicans to have something to run against and seem more centrist and maybe pick up conservative independents and Democrats.
The largest majority of the party backers and big money power players have only got a one item agenda "Taxes" and if they have to suck up some bad press or throw the social conservatives under the bus to get there they don't care.
The demographics are written on the wall of history for all to see...the question for Republicans (at least the mainstream ones) is are they going to let it be their epitaph
An initial $10 million investment on minority outreach? How much have they already spent trying to suppress our vote?
To add to your list Muggle: The coordinated effort to dismantle public unions, implementation of extreme social agenda items as well as the "voter id" laws all occuring after running campaigns focusing on debt, deficit, the economy and jobs. It's not the messaging, outreach or the data/digital gap...it's the record of what happens after they win as well as the childish tantrums when they lose that is the real turn off. They've moved so far out there in order to get centrist results, I need to vote D.
"They've moved so far out there in order to get centrist results, I need to vote D."
Exactly! I didn't vote for the liberal party last November.... I voted for the SANE party.
"The Horse and Buggy remain a viable alternative to the Automobile. But we certainly have to hire a better ad agency to convince the voters!"
Tea Party revolt in 3... 2... 1...
RRRRRRReince Priebus
..."embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform," a policy many, if not most, congressional Republicans remain deeply skeptical of.
...to expand the party's outreach to minority communities, and he committed this morning to an initial $10 million investment.
"Today's GOP, now with less racism."
That'll sell.
We really need a /snark/ tag!
That explains why some have anointed Rubio as the heir apparent. "Look, he's got dark skin like you so it's OK for you to vote for us!!" I'm thinking Latino voters aren't buying it and their policies on immigration just serve to reinforce their dislike for anyone not "white" enough.
"Our message was weak; our ground game was insufficient; we weren't inclusive; we were behind in both data and digital; our primary and debate process needed improvement."
And we had a clown car of candidates and downticket fools who lied and were disingenuous every day . We were really shocked that the American people did not want to elect mendacious crazy people.
Did he even go to CPAC? Sarah? Donald? West? Rubio?
All reiterating "It ain't the message and the policies ...it's It's ...other stuff
You got bigger problems than you know or are willing to admit Reince
Voters usually reject a party after a betrayal not before. The GOP is finished.
Fewer debates, shorter primaries. In other words, less time to talk about rape.
And lots of probing trans-vaginal questions.
Priebus also seems almost preoccupied with debates, hoping to prohibit their existence before Sept. 1, 2015,
First they came for the tax returns, then they came for the debates...
Mannequin/Crash Test Dummy 2016!
GOP = Greedy, Old People
(I'm 62.)
Preibus is going to put a band-aid on a hemorrhaging artery. Then he will pat himself on the back and claim the patient is cured. He should stick to standup comedy.
I think the third reason for less debates is shielding their candidates from their hate filled base who require care and feeding. The kind of folks who go to Republican debates are generally very narrow minded, white, evangelical religious thus the outbreak of booing the gay soldier, cheering for the death penalty, supporting someone dying if they didn't have health care and were ill, self- deporting, yada, yada, yada. Priebus's path to victory is in no way supported by the GOP/TP base. Rubio, whose sell by date of cuteness is waning as he gets chubby and bald, did not even have the nerve to mention immigration in his C-Span speech. Rand Paul will be undone by his lack of intellect and knowledge. Christie is smart but obese and too short tempered, etc.
The republican party does'nt need to be rebranded. It needs to be rebrained.
I think in light of all the maker vs taker rhetoric that Rachel lead a thought experiment comparing the cost of "taking" across all spectrums.
What is the dollar cost if someone claims welfare benefits illegally vs the dollar cost when someone scams othjer government programs? I believe the amount is much higher for the company that scams us and then pays a fine (if ever caught) and claims no responsibility, than the person claiming benefuits when they are not justified.
So Sally in West Virginia is getting benefits totalling how much for scamming SNAP or TANF and this is terrible vs a company reaping benefits much larger for scamming a different program.
The maker vs taker meme needs to be expanded a bit to encompass all the "takers" and their impact
When will congressional republicans realize it's not the messaging...it's the message. Maher was right. Conservatives need to learn that the American people have passed them by. Abortion, gay rights, immigration all second to the economy and jobs.
There is no issue these repubs haven't compounded and complicated with their drama. They wast time and money arguing over inconsequentials instead of trying to solve the problems. McCain and Graham, Sessions and oh hell the list is huge. When was the last tinme any of them did anything helpful for the American people? See what I mean?
Rinse Prewash just showed us that the Republican Party doesn't realize that it is it's own worst enemy. You can't put on a convention that is supposed to be a new beginning, and drag out a skanky old has-been that is a national joke. The reason your party, Rinse, is a massive failure, is because you refuse to jettison the trash that has dragged it down. Saying "we're different" doesn't cut it. Either you dump everything and everyone that isn't modern and forward thinking, or you will end up on the scrap heap of history.
Steve, you ignored the best part - the trumpeting of wildly unpopular governors and their "achievements" like Jindal's failed educational reforms.
RNC's Priebus plots a new way forward for his party and a new way backward for the country.
Well, I didn't watch CPAC, but saw some clips and read about some parts of it. From what I saw, they are still all over the map.
So, "Prince Reince" is acknowledging they know the problem, but the problem is not a problem, but a point of pride to some. The white supremacist at the "reach out to minorities" event said he would be OK with blacks being subservient to whites. Some applause there while the African American tried to speak. He asserted himself as superior to a woman trying to correct him, as well.
So much for the "make-over"?
They really have no appeal to minority voters, or those that can see that they do not address the racist elements, but defend free speech to discriminate, not follow the laws, but attempt to overturn laws, rewrite laws and make voting essentially a quaint idea we used to value.
Some of those overlooking the harm to themselves seem to have a serious lack of self esteem or they just care about money more than themselves and their "fellows".
His and (Jeb Bushes) relaying of the focus groups' assessment will not sink into minds that are narrow and stuffy and outright supremacist/dominionist.
"...the RNC, then, wants to help stack the deck a bit for establishment candidates with more money and better name recognition..."
Would that be establishment candidates like Romney who had "more money and better name recognition" ? That works.
Romney largely lost because of the primaries. He had to move hard right in order to get through them. Had he been able to get through the primaries with his prior positions, he would have had a very real shot at the Presidency.
Quite true, daw55. The long primary trail also exposed his willingness to morph himself into whatever would sell, and so people got to see him as a man without substance or principles. We could easily have been fooled if he had had less time to screw up.