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RNC Announces Postelection Self-Examination

The political autopsies of 2012 are continuing more than a month after Republicans fell short in the race for the White House and lost ground in both the House and Senate.

The newest postmortem announcement came from Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus. In a statement Monday, he announced a new “initiative to grow the Republican Party and improve future Republican campaigns.” It’s called the Growth and Opportunity project.

There will be five chairmen of the effort. They are:

  • Henry Barbour, a national committeeman from Mississippi
  • Sally Bradshaw, a veteran senior strategist in Florida and national politics
  • Ari Fleischer, the former White House press secretary
  • Zori Fonalledas, a national committeewoman from Puerto Rico
  • Glenn McCall, a national committeeman from South Carolina

The objective of the group, according to a release, is “reviewing past practices and also making critical recommendations for the future” in eight areas:

  • campaign mechanics and ground game
  • messaging
  • fundraising
  • demographic partners and allies
  • third-party groups
  • campaign finance issues
  • presidential primaries
  • lessons learned from Democratic campaign tactics

Politico first reported the news and also noted that a similar self-examination is occurring with the Republican super PAC American Crossroads. And last week, CQ Roll Call reported that a similar postmortem occurred with regards to Republican digital efforts in 2012.

Priebus is up for re-election in late January at the committee’s winter meeting in Charlotte, N.C.

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