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View Full Version : Republicans want to end perception as 'stuffy old men'



Harpr33t
18 Mar 2013, 07:56pm
Washington (CNN) – The beleaguered Republican Party put into writing Monday what many of its top strategists and leaders have been saying since last year's election losses: The GOP is too old, too white, and too insular to win national contests.

In a months-in-the-making report – which tops out at 100 pages and includes hundreds of recommended fixes - the Republican National Committee acknowledges its messaging problems, identifies structural setbacks to the primary calendar and spells out how to target specific demographic groups that voted overwhelmingly for Democrats in 2012.

"The report notes the way we communicate our principles isn’t resonating widely enough," RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, who also happened to be celebrating his birthday, said at the report's release in Washington. "Focus groups described our party as 'narrow minded,' 'out of touch,' and 'Stuffy old men.' I’m only 41, by the way. Today."

"It all goes back to what our moms used to tell us: It's not just what we say; it's how we say it," Priebus continued. "The promise of opportunity will be our message, and a spirit of optimism will infuse everything that we do."

The report was initiated by the RNC soon after last November's vote, which saw Republicans lose the presidency as well as seats in the U.S. House. Mitt Romney, the party's White House hopeful, lost big among Latinos, African-Americans and Asians, a fact that helped spur collective soul searching among the party's leaders.

"Public perception of the Party is at record lows," the report states. "Young voters are increasingly rolling their eyes at what the Party represents, and many minorities wrongly think that Republicans do not like them or want them in the country. When someone rolls their eyes at us, they are not likely to open their ears to us."

Romney won only 27% of Latino voters - a lower percentage than the last two GOP presidential candidates. Many pointed to Romney's hardline stance on immigration, including his endorsement of a policy of "self-deportation," as a reason.

In Monday's report, that policy was specifically shunned as a turnoff for voters who could potentially vote Republican.

"If Hispanic Americans perceive that a GOP nominee or candidate does not want them in the United States (i.e. self-deportation), they will not pay attention to our next sentence," it states. In one of its few policy recommendations, the report counsels Republicans to "embrace and champion" comprehensive immigration reform.

And in order to attract young voters, the party recommends a "change in tone," particularly on social issues.

"In every session with young voters, social issues were at the forefront of the discussion; many see them as the civil rights issues of our time. We must be a party that is welcoming and inclusive for all voters," it states, adding later that it's imperative that young people not regard the GOP as "totally intolerant of alternative points of view."

"Our policies are sound, but I think that in many ways the way that we communicate can be a real problem," Priebus said at the report's release.

He continued, "Decent people can disagree on issues. I don't agree with my wife on 100% of the issues, but it doesn't mean we don't have a good marriage. I think that we have to be a welcoming party. I think that we have to have a party that says, 'If you want to support our party and you want to walk through that door, I don't need to agree with you on every single issue.'"

"Republican Party is, indeed, a big tent," said Ari Fleischer, a CNN contributor who was one of the report's authors, on Monday. "We need to make sure that's a big tent, and not just rhetoric."

"Take the issue of gay marriage, for example, and gay rights. There is a genuine generational split in the Republican Party on that issue. Many, many young conservatives are for gay rights, are for gay marriage. And we openly talk about that and acknowledge that and we welcome that. That's part of what a big tent should be about," Fleischer said on CNN's "Starting Point."

The party's primary process has also generated problems for Republicans, the report finds, including the months-long primary process that saw candidates ripping each other in front of too many debates.

The number of debates should be cut in half, the report recommends, and the Republican National Convention should be moved earlier in the summer, so that the party's presidential candidate can start using RNC money earlier - the candidate is prevented from using those funds until they are officially nominated at the convention.

Also necessary, according to the report: a more robust digital effort, including the creation of a chief technology and digital officer for the RNC, to compete with Democrats online.

"Digital can simply no longer be an afterthought in our campaigns," the report states. "It has to be embedded in every function and backed up with appropriate staffing and funding."

CNN's Paul Steinhauser, Kevin Liptak and Ashley Killough contributed to this report.


Filed under: Republicans • RNC




I know it's a long article, but as part of an upcoming research paper.

With recent polls showing GOP approval ratings low as 30 percent, What ideas do you guy think will help the GOP finally get back on their feet?

Or are you one of those who views this as a good thing and want the end of the republican party?

Italian Jew
18 Mar 2013, 11:10pm
I know it's a long article, but as part of an upcoming research paper.

With recent polls showing GOP approval ratings low as 30 percent, What ideas do you guy think will help the GOP finally get back on their feet?

Or are you one of those who views this as a good thing and want the end of the republican party?

The stuffy old men will eventually die off (yes that would be an improvement). The Republican Party will evolve into a more moderate party and push out the extreme members into the fringe Tea Party. If the party wants to stay alive, they need to adapt to the times and get off old ideologies that don't appeal to modern society.

Itch
19 Mar 2013, 09:39am
I see this as a very good thing. I have always considered myself as a political moderate and find that the overly partisan nature of our current US politics as detrimental to forward progress.

That being said on many issues I tend to be conservative. Which is why I would love to see the Republican Party evolve and move more towards the middle rather than just dying off completely. We need more than one powerful political party to help with the "checks & balances" needed in our government. However when both sides polarize to the point of being ineffective and getting little to nothing done (Far fewer bills passed this last session than the "DO NOTHING" administration passed) something needs to change.

bigt4203
19 Mar 2013, 10:13am
I know it's a long article, but as part of an upcoming research paper.

With recent polls showing GOP approval ratings low as 30 percent, What ideas do you guy think will help the GOP finally get back on their feet?

Or are you one of those who views this as a good thing and want the end of the republican party?

Before I start, I want to say I consider myself a conservative.

I take poll numbers with a grain of salt. They numbers can vary greatly due to the location of the polling and the number of people polled. You also have to consider the people they polled, such as income level, race, gender, location, job, etc. Some of these polls say + or - 2% for a 1000 person poll but I call BS.

But to the main point, I do agree the republicans need to do a bit of reforming with some of their policies. They need to re-adjust to more modern times and circumstances.

But you have to remember if they don't stand their ground on certain party ideals, the democrats will continue to spend money out of control trying to make government bigger with more regulations. And I understand that blame is not solely on the democrats and can be blamed on both parties refusing to make a compromise on some issue, but it seems that what use to be considered the middle of the party lines has been slewed to the left, making what use to be normal republicans/conservatives now extreme right wing, thanks to various issues which is a whole different topic in itself.

But in general, if you looked at the approval ratings of Congress as a whole, I'm pretty sure its poor at the moment, seeing as they can't do anything, and you can point fingers and every direction but the blame lies with all of congress. Hell, even I think they are doing a poor job right now, they get paid way too much and have way too many benefits for the amount of work they do and actually accomplish. You can google their pay and benefits and its amazing to see how much they get.

Bork
19 Mar 2013, 02:21pm
Want to fix the government, at least a little? Get rid of the two major parties.

Frostbyte
28 Mar 2013, 06:31am
I think it's a good thing. I'd love to see a Republican party without neocon nutjobs.