“Republican soul-searching begins in earnest this week as GOP officials from every state in the nation come together for the first time since their party’s November shellacking,” AP writes. “There is broad agreement that the Republican Party needs to undergo fundamental changes to remain competitive as surging minority populations re-shape the American electorate. But there is no clear path forward. And even as they gather in a Charlotte, N.C., hotel this week — just days after President Barack Obama began his second term — Republicans are in some ways as divided as ever.”

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal delivers the keynote tonight. Political Wire: “Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) ‘will deliver a forceful denunciation of his party's Washington-centric focus in a speech to the Republican National Committee on Thursday evening, arguing that the GOP is fighting the wrong fight as it seeks to rebuild from losses at the ballot box last November,’ the Washington Post reports.”

Beth Reinhard: “With President Obama’s second inauguration still ringing in their ears, Republican national party leaders are hunkering down for three days of soul-searching. The presidential election was the toughest, but not the last indignity. Congressional Republicans were backed into a corner during the negotiations to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff and forced to accept tax hikes on the wealthiest Americans. Still seeking leverage, GOP leaders are backing off a showdown over the debt ceiling. At Monday’s swearing-in, President Obama stuck it to the opposition party by laying out an unapologetically liberal agenda for the next four years.”