Top story: Reince Priebus and the Republican National Committee kind of get it—and kind of don’t—in the party’s new report on what went wrong in 2012.
- Here’s how Republican focus groups described the party in the report: “‘scary,’ ‘narrow minded,’ and ‘out of touch’ and that we were a Party of ‘stuffy old men.’” (RNC)
- And here’s how Priebus himself describes 2012: “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…So, there’s no one solution: There’s a long list of them.” (Politico)
- “Among the report’s 219 prescriptions: a $10 million marketing campaign, aimed in particular at women, minorities and gays; a shorter primary season and earlier national convention; and creation of an open data platform and analytics institute to provide research for Republican candidates.” (The Washington Post)
- “The report is fundamentally about branding, which is to say politics; it’s notably light on policy.” (Buzzfeed)
- “Interestingly, the RNC report does make one recommendation on policy: supporting comprehensive immigration reform.” (Mark Murray)
- National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru is unimpressed with the report, calling the its core premise “false.” And of the report’s prescriptions for immigration reform, he writes: “Its analysis is as superficial as I’ve ever seen.” (National Review)
- “Dick Armey in the GOP autopsy re: Hispanic voters: ‘You can’t call someone ugly and expect them to go to the prom with you.’” (Jonathan Capehart)
- “My favorite part of the RNC’s ‘Growth & Opportunity Project’ report is when it refers to Reince Priebus as ‘youthful.’” (Jamelle Bouie)
- CPACkers, however, have their own autopsy: blame the consultants. (National Review)
- And speaking of CPAC, make sure to read this rundown of how a panel on trumping “the race card” devolved into racism. (The New Republic)
- 10 craziest moments at CPAC. (Salon)
John Flowers