An uncaring and smug Republican Party, which has lost five of the last six popular votes in the race for the White House, must "smartly change course" to win another presidential election, a new study warned today.
The blunt assessment on the state of Republicanism at the national level comes from a major new report, out today, that will likely shake up an already battered party.
It was commissioned by the head of the Republican National Committee (RNC) in the wake of Mitt Romney's defeat at the hands of President Barack Obama last year.
Without offering detailed policy prescriptions, the 98-page report calls on the party to "smartly change course", modernise itself and develop "a more welcoming brand of conservatism that invites and inspires new people to visit us."
There are extensive lists of proposals, many of them technological and procedural, designed to help the Grand Old Party (GOP) better engage voters, especially women, minorities and the young, and reverse a losing pattern in five of the last six popular votes for president.
"Unless changes are made, it will be increasingly difficult for Republicans to win another presidential election in the near future," the report was quoted by the Los Angeles Times as saying.
RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, in remarks in Washington on the release of the study by the party's "Growth and Opportunity Project", is unsparing in his analysis of the 2012 election setback.
"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," he says, according to an advance text of his remarks.
"We know we have problems. We've identified them, and we're implementing the solutions to fix them," he says.
Most of the criticisms are familiar to those, both inside and outside the GOP, who have watched the party fail to come to grips with changing demographics and, instead, try to rely on older, white voters who represent a shrinking part of the electorate.
"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," the report says.
Young voters, it says, see the party as "old and detached from pop culture".
