Republicans' Secret To Success? Sound And Act More Like Democrats
If Republicans hope to recapture the White House in the foreseeable future, they basically need to sound and campaign more like Democrats.
That's one central conclusion of a Republican National Committee report officially released Monday that offers the party a way forward after its 2012 failure to defeat President Obama, who was long seen as vulnerable because of a relatively high jobless rate and uninspiring economic growth.
Reince Priebus, the RNC chairman, made it clear during a Washington speech that the Republican officials who produced the report after conducting research and voter focus groups didn't find that it was the party's ideology that made it unattractive to so many voters, especially women and minorities.
Instead, it was how Republican officials and candidates delivered their message to voters that failed the party, Priebus said.
It was also the party's failure at voter outreach and its insular tendencies, which led it to speak more to party faithful than outsiders, that doomed its efforts, at least on the national level, Priebus said:
"To be clear, our principles are sound. Our principles are not old, rusty thoughts in some book. Freedom and opportunity are ever-fresh revolutionary ideas.
"They're the road map to American renewal in a new and interconnected world.
"But the report notes that the way we communicate our principles isn't resonating widely enough. Focus groups described our party as narrow-minded, out of touch and, quote, 'stuffy old men.' ... The perception that we're the party of the rich, unfortunately, continues to grow. That's frustrating because we care about every voter."