Local News

The Republican National Committee today released a lengthy report recommending ways to turn around the GOP image and renew its national electoral prospects following a bruising 2012 election.

The 100-page report, commissioned by RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, does a fair amount of self-flagellation, noting the GOP’s loss of the popular presidential vote in five of the last six elections. It blames, in part, an insular and stale circle that has left the party “talking to itself” and failing to reach out to independents:

“We have become expert in how to provide ideological reinforcement to like-minded people, but devastatingly we have lost the ability to be persuasive with, or welcoming to, those who do not agree with us on every issue.”

Of particular interest locally, the report suggests Republicans should make more of an effort to compete in traditionally blue states.

It specifically pledges the RNC to making, by June 15, “an investment in field staff beyond traditional battleground states.”

But that doesn’t necessarily mean Washington will become a major Republican target.

The report suggests the GOP concentrate its rebuilding efforts on states with Republican governors, where the party has a built-in “infrastructure advantage.” But with Rob McKenna’s loss last year, the GOP has been shut out of the Washington governor’s office for three decades.

(more…)

The chairman of the Republican National Committee said today that a red state/blue state analysis of national politics is a “road to nowhere” for the party’s future.

Reince Priebus, in Seattle to listen to party activists and spread his message of growth and renewal, said that no state is permanently blue and the Republicans should not cede any to the Democrats, as they did in the 2012 election by concentrating just on eight swing states.

Had GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney not written off Washington state, Priebus said, Rob McKenna would be governor today.

“Local candidates suffer when the national camp doesn’t come into a state to compete,” Priebus said. “Rob was rowing alone.” McKenna, a moderate, lost to Jay Inslee by about three percentage points in November.

McKenna stood with Priebus for a brief news conference following what the chairman described as a spirited conversation with state GOP leaders about how the party could improve. Priebus, 40, has been touring the country over the past few weeks, including meetings with black leaders in Atlanta and Hispanic and Asian-American leaders in Los Angeles.

President Obama beat Romney in just about every demographic except white males. Priebus said the GOP has to become more open and inclusive of new members. It also has to build permanent outreach and get-out-the-vote operations and not just mount campaigns in the six months before an election.

“We are in a world of permanent politics,” Priebus said.