As an outsider, I've sorta enjoyed watching the bickering and in-fighting. It's clear the GOP knows it has a problem attracting any voters other than aging Southern whites, but what's still unclear is how they plan to actually expand the tent. Yesterday, RNC Chair, the interestingly named Reince Preibus, released the party's findings and blueprint for their return to prominence.
The Republican Party ended months of self-criticism Monday with a wide-ranging plan to transform itself into a modern, welcoming home for a rapidly diversifying American electorate.If you're into really boring, really pointless reads, you should give this 100 page "report" a gander. It's every bit as exciting as a Big 10 basketball game, and unfortunately will take you about twice as long to finish. I made it about 15 pages in before it because glaringly obvious that the GOP still has no freakin' clue how to relate to minorities and young voters. In fact, I'm not sure they even want to. Of for that matter, should. I mean, we've seen firsthand what it looks like when the party tries to discuss it's own race related issues.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus presented a 100-page blueprint aimed at rebuilding his struggling GOP after a four-month analysis, and he delivered a particularly blistering assessment of the party’s problems appealing to women and minorities at the polls.
The plan called for Republicans to embrace comprehensive immigration reform, overhaul the party’s digital and research operations, and hold a shorter, more controlled presidential primary season. Priebus also announced a $10 million plan to dispatch GOP operatives to black, Latino and Asian American communities, which voted overwhelmingly to reelect President Obama.
“There’s no one reason we lost,” Priebus said of November’s elections, in which Democrats held the White House, kept control of the Senate and gained seats in the House. “Our message was weak, our ground game was insufficient, we weren’t inclusive, we were behind in both data and digital, and our primary and debate process needed improvement.”
But even many Republicans who praised the proposal said it was only a partial response to the party’s problems, which include policy positions that alienate growing minority groups. Strategists said the party still needs to recast conservatism to appeal to Latino and Asian voters as well as college-educated women.
The RNC’s road map comes on the heels of last weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference, the biggest annual gathering of conservative activists, which brought new attention to the divergent ideas coursing through the Republican Party.
The plan also laid bare simmering divisions over the party’s performance. Priebus’s remarks included references to financial problems under Michael Steele, his predecessor as RNC chairman.
Steele responded tersely on MSNBC, referring to the GOP’s 2010 takeover of the House: “I won. And he didn’t.”
That wasn't pretty.
Let's face it: The Democratic Party doesn't have another Barack Obama in the queue. Should Hilary Clinton run in 2016 (and after watching this, I'm pretty sure she is), she'll have a pretty good chance of winning, but absent that, there doesn't appear to be another Democrat with such magnetism anywhere in the party's minor leagues. The GOP has shown that by gerrymandering enough Congressional districts, it can retain power in Congress. The party is also running the governor's mansion of 30 states. And all jokes aside, the party would probably be in charge of the Senate had they not elected a handful of blathering idiots for seats in 2010 and 2012. A bit more discretion and the GOP would likely be firmly in charge of everything but the White House right now. Call me silly, but that's not exactly cause for alarm.
Likewise, if Clinton doesn't run in 2016, who are the Democrats gonna trot out? Chris Van Hollen? Joe
If I'm the GOP, I'd say to hell with all this outreach sh*t and double down on obstruction and resentment! It's not like that formula hasn't been wildly successful to date. And with ObamaCare, elderly White seniors will live (and vote) even longer. If it ain't totally broke, don't fix it. Eff' a autopsy.
I will, however, say this: if the GOP wants to spend some of that $10M outreach money, I can darn sure help them. PayPal is unbiased.
Question: Is the GOP's "autopsy" indicative of a true heart change, or merely lip service to say "look, we tried!" Does the GOP really need to "rebrand" and "expand the tent" or does the party merely need better, less crazy candidates?
