GOP's problem: Message or messengers?

As multiple potential 2016 presidential candidates audition at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), many at the gathering are still dissecting what exactly went wrong for Republicans in the 2012 election.

One question at the core of the debate: Is what ails the GOP its message or its messengers?

Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, a candidate in 2012 who may run again in 2016, made clear in his speech yesterday he believes the problem is with the candidates - and specifically with the party's two previous presidential nominees, John McCain and Mitt Romney.

• Romney, McCain were not conservatives, says Rick Perry
• Looking ahead, some conservatives spurn "stale," "old guard" GOP

"The popular media narrative is that this country has shifted away from conservative ideals, as evidenced by the last two presidential elections," Perry told the conference just outside Washington."That might be true if Republicans had actually nominated conservatives in 2008 and 2012."

Many conference attendees echoed Perry's sentiment that the messengers were the issue. But they pointed to their tone, and not their ideology, as the main problem.

"I think if we can get messengers really speaking with conservative values but without the harsh rhetoric, without being inflammatory, but speaking in a moderate way and being inclusive, that will make a huge difference," said Leigh Tauber of Chevy Chase, Md. A self-described libertarian who attended CPAC with her son, she pointed to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., as an example of a Republican who delivers his argument in a "reasoned, logical way." Paul addressed the conference yesterday to loud applause.

A trio of college Republicans from the University of Central Missouri also said they were looking for something different in their candidates.

"Are you familiar with Todd Akin?" student Cody Baughman succinctly put it, referring to the Missouri Senate candidate who sunk his campaign by making incendiary comments about rape.

Fellow student Kailea Bogan added that Republicans needed a more passionate advocate for conservative values at the top of the ticket.

"We didn't really have a lot of choices this last election as far as someone who could really be passionate about the American people and connect," she said. "It wasn't that Mitt Romney didn't believe in the American people or didn't associate, it's like he didn't know how to convey that passion for the American people. We need someone who can do that."

But there appeared to be a disconnect between these sentiments from the conservative rank-and-file and those of Republican insiders who say the party's problem runs deeper than just finding the next Ronald Reagan.

• Rubio, Paul chart divergent paths for GOP
• Trump: Immigration reform a "suicide mission" for GOP

"It's the message, it's the messenger, and it's the tone," said pollster Whit Ayers shortly after participating on a panel about immigration reform. "Some people like to delude themselves to thinking the message has been just fine, we just need to communicate it better. If that's the case, you don't lost five of six popular votes in presidential elections."

Al Cardenas, president of the American Conservative Union, which sponsors CPAC, agreed and added that the GOP needs to acknowledge the changing demographics in the United States so it can avoid being "a white man's party."

Cardenas said that outreach begins with its candidates.

"If we keep recruiting some of the candidates we've been recruiting in the past, even if they are principled conservatives, we're going to keep losing election after election, as we have experienced in the past," he says.

Although 2016 may seem a long way off, there is a sense of urgency among conservatives to diagnose and fix the GOP's problems quickly. Pollster Ayres was optimistic that the party would change its fortunes in time for the next presidential contest, and pointed to Democrats after losing their third election in a row in 1988 as an example.

"It didn't take the Democrats long after 1988 to come up with a new messenger in 1992, did it?" Ayres said, referring to former President Bill Clinton. "It's not going to take Republicans any longer to do it either."

CPAC wraps up on Saturday with the announcement of the results of its presidential straw poll, perhaps the first votes cast in the 2016 race. The ballot this year features 23 names that are a mix of reruns from previous elections - 2008 Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry - and rising stars - Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. While rarely a predictor of who the Republican nominee will be, the poll could be an indication of what direction the conservative base wants to take the party - and if it's looking for a new message, or just a new messenger.

[GOP-R--Con-Men]

"Life isn't fair but government should be"

Ann Richards Former Texas Governor and Democrat

[marychgo]

Republicans ALWAYS pretend political problems are EITHER/OR questions, but most political issues -- and particularly those that caused Republicans to LOSE the White House, LOSE the Senate, and tally more than a million fewer votes for the House (though gerrymandering allowed them to retain control DESPITE that huge shortfall!) -- are BOTH/AND questions. Americans HATE the GOP message AND HATE the Republicans' messengers. We KNOW what the country needs, and it's certainly NOT what McConnell or Boehner or Ryan or any of the CPAC idiots are selling!

[the_egret]

Neither message nor messengers. What's wrong with the GOP is WHAT they think and how they want to treat people. We've listened to their messengers, and we've heard their messages of hate, exclusion, theocracy. We had a referendum on these things. It was called a national election. America said NO to that trickle-down, "f**k you, I've got mine" stuff. If they want to stay in denial, there will be fewer of them around after 2014 and even fewer after 2016. Then maybe we can address our real problems.

[jaykay3141]

But in 2012 over 1 million more votes were cast for Democratic House candidates than for Republicans. The only reason the GOP retained control was that the 2010 elections allowed them to redraw district maps in roughly 30 states.

And coming from a highly political state where _both_ parties gerrymander wildly whenever they're in power, I want the whole redistricting process taken out of the pols' control no matter which side is in power. I.e. NO sauce regardless of whether the goose or gander is in power.

[peter_crown_dd]

GOP candidates oppose funding for schools, since that will make an ordinary man intelligent enough to look right through the B.S. that they say and find the real hard truth behind them. They oppose tax reform since their supporters (owners) are scandalized because that means that they will not be able to afford their 57th yatch to match their neighbors fleet. They oppose Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security since they don't need it. Basically they oppose to everything that benefit the ordinary man (or woman) and not the top 1%. Is this too hard to see?

[stevehamilton858]

The Republican Party is in serious disarray. It has a doofus for a leader. It is riven with insurrection and anarchy. Gingrich's basic message is on point; if the party doesn't figure out how to run its own party better, it will never get a chance to try and run the country. Trickle down economics is a discredited, out of date economic theory, but too many Republicans cling to its concepts. Most Americans reject the approach to reducing the deficit stated by Boehner, wherein he rejects any additional tax revenue as part of the potential solution, but he not only doesn't know that, he thinks that 80% of Americans agree with his approach. What virtually all Americans agree with is only that they personally don't want to pay any more taxes. Ryan's approach to resolving a long term Medicare funding problem on the backs of America's poorest citizens is not only bad politics, but it flies in the face of Ryan's supposed Christianity. Christ certainly never preached that anyone should take from the poor to support the rich.

But, the biggest mistake the GOP made was to allow McConnell to declare war on president Obama with Mitch's "my number one priority" speech. That was the equivalent of the seceding states firing on Fort Sumter in 1861, and the re-elected president is using intelligent confrontation to win the war the GOP started, aided by the gaffes and internal divisions of the Republican Party.

[Hehiker]

fellow working class republicans,, the time has come to save, and redirect our party back to the people that make or break america,, the working class,, we need new faces and new policy, without witch our party WILL die

[iam4honesty]

GOP's problem: Message or messengers?
***********

BOTH!

[marychgo]

Another dumb dichotomy from the Beltway: the CORRECT answer is of course that most Americans hate BOTH the GOP message AND the GOP messengers!

[BuckeyeChuck]

The basic problem with republicans is that taxes built America, and being against taxes makes them against America.

Think about what you like best about this Country and most likely it's something that government is responsible for not private business.

Another thing if their so worried about the deficit why not raise tax to pay their bills?

[GOP-R--Con-Men]

Why is the mainstream media afraid to call the republican obstruction what it really is? SABOTAGE!