As the country “evolves” on the issue of gay marriage, Republicans are taking a closer look once again at the political reality of officially opposing it -- particularly in terms of the youth vote.

College Republicans put a number to it, Monday. Their national committee’s post-election report said one-quarter of voters ages 18-29 said that that they could not vote for a politician who opposed same-sex marriage. (This figure is based on two national surveys with 800 registered voters in that age group in addition to sessions with six focus groups of young voters considered “winnable” for the GOP, including Hispanics and Asian Americans.)

The report, which stayed away from specific policy recommendations, comes as support for gay marriage continues to climb. Overall, 53 percent of voters now say they support same-sex marriage, according to an April NBC News/WSJ poll. But there is a sizable gulf between Democrats (73 percent support) and Republicans (66 percent oppose). But when it comes to younger voters, they overwhelmingly support it; 64 percent of 18-to-34-year-olds favor it, while 29 percent oppose.

The December “Growth and Opportunity” report by the Republican National Committee, seen as an autopsy of what went wrong with the 2012 election, also alluded to gay marriage as a potential problem for the GOP in trying to appeal to younger voters.

“On messaging, we must change our tone — especially on certain social issues that are turning off young voters,” the report read. “In every session with young voters, social issues were at the forefront of the discussion; many see them as the civil rights issues of our time. We must be a party that is welcoming and inclusive for all voters.”

But the RNC’s recommendations were met with opposition from socially conservative groups, which pointed out that the party’s official platform stands against same-sex marriage.

“We believe that marriage, the union of one man and one woman must be upheld as the national standard, a goal to stand for, encourage, and promote through laws governing marriage,” the platform reads.

Thirteen prominent groups issued a letter to RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, rebuking him for a perceived “abandonment of principles.” They asked that he confirm the party platform in opposition to gay marriage, by ordering a fresh resolution.

Priebus complied.

At the RNC’s quarterly meeting in Los Angeles the following week, the 168-member RNC voted unanimously to reaffirm the platform.

“The only reason that we see support among young voters falling on the marriage issue is that there aren’t enough public advocates explaining why it matters,” contended Ryan T. Anderson, who writes about marriage and religious liberty for the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Anderson and others want conservatives to “redouble efforts” to prevent gay marriage, because, as Anderson sees it, what’s driving the change is young voters’ perception that Republicans who oppose gay marriage are wrongly involved in the romantic lives of consenting adults. That’s not the case, Anderson said, arguing that he and others are concerned with keeping biological families together.

“The political community is concerned with making sure that the man and a woman, who created a child, commit to each other and then take responsibility for the child,” he said. “That’s what [traditional] marriage does.”

Sam Bain, outgoing state chairman of the Ohio College Republican Federation -- who said he personally believes in traditional marriage, but doesn't believe the government should have any role -- said that, if there is a change in the party, it will come when the next generation is in power.

“Youth will drive any change that comes about as opposed to the establishment of the party,” he said.

To that point, as Anderson noted, and polling shows, young Republicans are increasingly breaking away from the party on the issue. A Pew survey released in March, for example, found that 37 percent of young Republicans support same-sex marriage, as opposed to just 26 percent of the party overall.

While he does not necessarily think a policy change in favor of gay marriage is in order, Bain said he has noticed it is not as galvanizing an issue for his members.

“It might turn some people off,” he said, “but I think the youth are more open. I don’t think it would turn a number off.”

Even among those who oppose gay marriage, a majority – 59 percent – see legalization as “inevitable,” according to a survey released, Thursday, by Pew; that’s compared to 72 percent all totaled who say legalization is going to happen.

Crystal Benton, a member of the Young Conservatives Leadership Committee for Freedom to Marry -- a pro-same-sex marriage group of which Meghan McCain and Jon Huntsman’s daughters are part -- feels more strongly than Bain. Benton said she thinks younger voters --many of whom have gay friends or family members -- see a stance against gay marriage as discriminatory and that communicating the old message differently won’t matter.

“Saying we’re for family values, bolstered by marriage, but then adding, ‘But not for you,’ is no way for our party to lead,” Benton said. “And it’s certainly no way to win.”

This story was originally published on Thu Jun 6, 2013 1:21 PM EDT

Alex Wong / Getty Images, file

Michele Bachmann speaks to reporters after a news conference on Capitol Hill on May 16.

The Bachmann campaign may be over, but the investigations are not.

On Wednesday, firebrand Congresswoman Michele Bachmann declared that she would not seek a fifth term, an announcement made in the face of a difficult re-election landscape, as well as some high-profile investigations connected to the finances of her 2012 presidential campaign. Bachmann expressly denies any wrongdoing related to those probes by the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) and the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), among other entities.

Bachmann, a leader of the House Tea Party Caucus, became a national voice for a strident brand of conservatism that endangered her support back in her suburban Twin Cities district, and she faced the probability of a difficult re-election in 2014. And the ongoing probes into the finances of her presidential campaign foreshadowed months of attention on the allegations going forward.

Bachmann faces investigations on several fronts, stemming from allegations that her presidential campaign sought to curry favor with an influential state senator ahead of the Iowa caucuses.

Susan Walsh / AP

The office sign for Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 29, 2013.

According to Peter Waldron, who filed the FEC complaint, the allegations in that filing concerned campaign staffers, not Bachmann. But two sources familiar with the OCE query told NBC News on Wednesday that investigators asked staffers directly whether Bachmann was aware of any alleged improprieties.

The OCE is an independent watchdog established by the House of Representatives to investigate allegations of misconduct by members of the House and their staffers; the commission then issues its preliminary findings to the House Ethics Committee.

The Iowa state Senate’s ethics committee is also investigating the allegations. The controversy began initially with that complaint to the Iowa committee and a separate filing with the FEC.

In a video statement announcing her decision, Bachmann insisted her decision was unconnected to her re-election prospects, adding, “And rest assured, this decision was not impacted in any way by the recent inquiries into the activities of my former presidential campaign or my former presidential staff.” (Bachmann also included a denial of wrongdoing by her campaign.)

“She's a very shrewd politician and a very bright person, and she should never be underestimated. She would have won this race if she had run,” said Maureen Shaver, a Minnesota GOP strategist, of Bachmann’s chances in 2014. She pointed to Bachmann’s ability to survive in 2012, even as Democrats swarmed the polls in a presidential election. But, Shaver cautioned: “If investigations had uncovered serious ethical issues, it would have been difficult for her to win, there's no question."

The congresswoman’s former chief of staff wrote in a sworn affidavit to the Iowa state Senate ethics committee, made public last month, that Bachmann "knew of and approved" a scheme to funnel money to state senator Kent Sorenson to help win his support in the caucuses. Andy Parrish, Bachmann's former top congressional aide, said the congresswoman approved payments totaling $7,500 per month to Sorenson, which Parrish said was funneled to the senator through a consulting contract with a firm run by a top Bachmann fundraiser.

Parrish wrote that Sorenson "indicated to [him] that he would like to be paid for his efforts supporting" Bachmann, and that Guy Short, the fundraiser, "worked out an arrangement" in which Iowa state Sen. Kent Sorenson was paid $7,500 per month until he defected to support Texas Rep. Ron Paul's candidacy.

Moreover, Parrish said that Bachmann "knew of and approved this arrangement," though Sorenson assured the campaign that it was legal under state ethics rules, which prohibit lawmakers from receiving payments from presidential campaigns.

Parrish wrote that he didn't intend his affidavit as a "rebuke to or betrayal of" Bachmann, whom he called an "outstanding public servant." He said he came forward, rather, to clear the record about the campaign's relationship with Sorenson.

In February, Sorenson formally responded to the Iowa Senate Ethics Committee complaint. “I vehemently deny any wrong doing as alleged,” he said. “The false allegations are on their face absurd, and not really meritorious of response.” In July, Sorenson told NBC News “... There were expenses that were covered, but I never received regular payment from the Bachmann campaign." Sorenson declined to comment for this story.

William McGinley, an attorney for Bachmann, spoke directly about the congressional investigation in April, saying, "There are no allegations that the congresswoman engaged in any wrongdoing. We are constructively engaged with the OCE and are confident that at the end of their Review the OCE Board will conclude that Congresswoman Bachmann did not do anything inappropriate."

But the slowly-emerging revelations threatened to finally become Bachmann’s undoing. Republican nominee Mitt Romney beat President Barack Obama by 15 points in Minnesota’s 6th congressional district, but Bachmann won by only about 4,200 votes – or 1.2 percent. Bachmann won other contests by wider margins, but has never enjoyed a particularly commanding hold on her district.

Minnesota Republicans are far more sanguine about Bachmann’s future prospects, however, especially if she escapes major fallout associated with the ethics probe.

“I think she’ll have a lot of opportunities in the future, either on cable news or joining maybe a conservative group that advocates for the types of things she supports,” said Cullen Sheehan, the manager of Republican Sen. Norm Coleman’s campaign in 2008. “I think what you’re seeing now is the next step in an evolution of what she wants to do in the future.”

Those future plans could even include a bid for statewide office – for Senate or governor – if Bachmann is unscathed by ethics allegations.

“I think she's always wanted to run statewide in Minnesota, but I think she's smarter about the fact that that the stars and the moon would have to line up for her to do that,” Shaver said. “I don't think her political career is over. But if she wants to hold herself out as a favorite of the party or the Tea Party movement, she cannot have any ethical questions hanging over her. Those questions need to be answered.”

This story was originally published on Wed May 29, 2013 7:34 PM EDT

The Associated Press reports that the Internal Revenue Service says it gave extra scrutiny to organizations with the names "Tea Party" or "Patriot" seeking tax-exempt status.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Internal Revenue Service is apologizing for inappropriately flagging conservative political groups for additional reviews during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status.

Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS unit that oversees tax-exempt groups, said organizations that included the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their applications for tax-exempt status were singled out for additional reviews.

Lerner said the practice, initiated by low-level workers in Cincinnati, was wrong and she apologized while speaking at a conference in Washington.

Many conservative groups complained during the election that they were being harassed by the IRS. They said the agency asked them an inordinate number of questions to justify their tax-exempt status.

Certain tax-exempt charitable groups can conduct political activities but it cannot be their primary activity.

UPDATE: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell released a statement calling for the Obama administration to conduct a review of "these thuggish practices":

“Today’s acknowledgement by the Obama administration that the IRS did in fact target conservative groups in the heat of last year’s national election is not enough. Today, I call on the White House to conduct a transparent, government-wide review aimed at assuring the American people that these thuggish practices are not underway at the IRS or elsewhere in the administration against anyone, regardless of their political views.

Last year, amid reports that the Obama administration was using the levers of executive power to harass conservative political groups in Kentucky and elsewhere, I issued a very public warning to the administration that the targeting of private citizens on the basis of their political views would not be tolerated. Today’s apology by the IRS is proof that those concerns were well founded. But make no mistake, an apology won’t put this issue to rest. Now more than ever we need to send a clear message to the Obama Administration that the First Amendment is non-negotiable, and that apologies after an election year are not an sufficient response to what we now know took place at the IRS. This kind of political thuggery has absolutely no place in our politics.”

After their losses in last year’s elections, Republicans from across the country admitted they have a problem with African-American, Latino and minority voters.
 
But the GOP’s problem also extends to female voters, especially after President Barack Obama beat challenger Mitt Romney by 11 percentage points among women. 
 
“When you have senators who don’t even know the anatomy of a woman, you have a problem,” said former Rep. Connie Morella (R-Md.). “They need to keep quiet.”
 
The Republican National Committee responded last week by releasing its Growth and Opportunity Project, which included recommendations to provide training programs for potential female candidates, to employ more female surrogates and to implement sessions educating members on the best ways to communicate with women.
 
“Communicating, organizing, and winning the women’s vote should be part of all activities that the RNC undertakes,” the report stated. “Women are not a ‘coalition.’ They represent more than half the voting population in the country, and our inability to win their votes is losing us election.”
 
Current and former female GOP officeholders believe the RNC’s actions are a good start, but they disagree over whether the party needs to change its communications strategy, its policies or both.
 
“[The RNC report] has the right message, but we’re still not meeting women in the right places,” said Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who recommended using media outlets like women’s magazines and programming to better communicate with them.
 
Morella adds that improving the GOP’s performance with female voters involves following through on the RNC’s plans to recruit and then support female leaders to increase the party’s desirability. When she entered national politics in 1987, there were equal numbers of Republican and Democratic women in Congress. Democratic women now outnumber Republicans by a 3-to-1 margin.
 
“Pictures of the Republican Party seem to be all men,” Morella said. “Let some women into the picture!”
 
“I think our party thinks in terms of the man who will run instead of the women who have more experience,” Blackburn adds. “Women generally don’t raise their hands to run, but wait to be called on.”
 
Adding more female candidates and surrogates, however, will do little to help the party if it’s not accompanied by more a substantive change to policy, says former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman.
 
“It’s not about the messaging; it’s the message,” she said. “We are perceived as being unsympathetic to the needs of the most vulnerable.”
 
Whitman, for example, cited the 138 House Republicans -- including a dozen women -- who voted against the Violence Against Women Act’s reauthorization for a variety of reasons, such as opposition to new protections for gays.
 
Another example is last year’s political debate over contraception. “The most conservative position you can take is to get the party out of the bedroom,” Whitman said. “But instead, you’re getting into that issue and it really turns people off.”
 
Morella agreed that the last election highlighted the need for Republicans to update some of their policies to attract -- not alienate -- new groups.
 
“The issues have gone so far to the right, there’s not much appeal, especially for younger women,” Morella said.
 
The process of attracting women voters is likely to be a slow one, no matter how the party approaches it, notes Karen O’Connor, Director of the Women & Politics Institute at American University.
 
Republicans, O’Connor says, will need to convince women that they are acting in their best interests in order to retain the House and pick up Senate seats in 2012, O’Connor said.
 
Morella, the former Republican congresswoman, is optimistic if only because the party cannot do much worse.
 
“As Abigail Adams said to John, ‘I desire you would remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors,’” Morella said.
 
“Who would have thought it took this long! History keeps repeating itself.”

The Republican National Committee released an audacious set of recommendations on Monday aimed at revitalizing the party following the drubbing suffered by GOP candidates last November, calling for sweeping changes to the party's infrastructure, outreach and nominating process to contend for the White House in 2016.

The RNC's 100-page report, the "Growth and Opportunity Project," is the election autopsy ordered by Chairman Reince Priebus last fall.

Culled from more than 52,000 contacts with voters, party consultants and elected officials, it calls for drastic changes to almost every major element of the modern Republican Party.

"When Republicans lost in November, it was a wake-up call. And in response I initiated the most public and most comprehensive post-election review in the history of any national party," Priebus said Monday morning at the National Press Club. "As it makes clear, there’s no one reason we lost. 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."

In essence, the report argues for a more data-driven Republican Party in which the RNC assumes increased authority for party-building efforts.

The report calls for increased outreach to women, young voters and minorities — especially Hispanics. The document acknowledges the GOP’s policy on immigration has become a “litmus test” for what will be a key constituency necessary for the party’s success in the next four years and beyond.

"We are not a policy committee, but among the steps Republicans take in the Hispanic community and beyond, we must embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform," the report says, nodding at other points to the bipartisan reform efforts currently before Congress. "If we do not, our Party’s appeal will continue to shrink to its core constituencies only."

The report also notes a growing generational divide on the issue of gay rights, calling the issue a "gateway" for young voters deciding whether to align with the GOP.

"We can't grow the party by division and subtraction," Priebus said during a question-and-answer session at the press club. "We can only build it by addition and multiplication."

But the report is hardly focused on social issues alone. Its top recurring theme arguably involves building a robust Republican data infrastructure, and applying a commitment to testing and analysis of almost every operation of the RNC.

Priebus is advised to hire a chief technology officer and digital officer by the end of April, and give them wide latitude to inform aspects of the party from fundraising to media strategy and messaging and beyond.

"Those teams will work together to integrate their respective areas throughout the RNC and provide a data-driven focus for the rest of the organization," Priebus said. "And they will be the new center of gravity within the organization."

The GOP's digital revamp — as with most of the other elements of the report — was prompted by the Obama campaign's far more sophisticated operation in 2012.

Handout / Getty Images

Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus, appears on ''Face the Nation'' on March 17, 2013 in Washington, D.C.

Many of the reforms proposed by the Growth and Opportunity Project, however, will encounter stiff resistance in corners of the Republican Party and broader conservative movement — because of a deep distrust of the official GOP among the grassroots. 

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin encapsulated the sentiment during her speech on Saturday before the Conservative Political Action Conference. 

"Now is the time to furlough the consultants, and tune out the pollsters, send the focus groups home, and toss the political scripts," she said, "because if we truly know what we believe, we don't need professionals to tell us."

And some of the report's declarations are sure to ruffle feathers on the Right.

The report says bluntly at one point that "third-party groups that promote purity are hurting our electoral prospects," an indirect reference to groups like the Club for Growth, which has promoted challenges to Republicans regarded as more electable who are accused of transgressing against conservative principle.

A spokesman for the Club for Growth had no comment about the report, and Ari Fleischer, one of the leaders of the GOP project, argued that success would involve overcoming resistance from fellow Republicans.

"Successful parties learn and grow, and you do the best learning after you lose," he said at a press conference Monday morning.

The report also calls super PACs a "wild card" that threaten to weaken an eventual nominee due to the onslaught of negative advertising during primaries. (2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney suffered from this type of friendly fire during his slog to the nomination.)

The report calls for broader changes to the Republican primary system, too, especially as it relates to picking a presidential candidate. It calls for prohibiting primary debates before Sept. 1, 2015, and limiting the total number of debates to 10 or 12 -- and possibly docking delegates from candidates who ignore the rules.

The report also calls for holding the Republican National Convention in late June or July, necessitating that the primary process concludes between late April and mid-May. 

To accomplish that, the Growth and Opportunity Project recommends for a major — and likely contentious — overhaul to the primary calendar in which groups of states in a similar region would vote on the same date. The so-called "regional primary system" would follow traditional nominating contests in states like Iowa and New Hampshire, for which there would be an exception. 

Furthermore, the report recommends that Republicans ditch caucuses and conventions — venues in which conservative activists traditionally dominate — in favor of primaries for picking a nominee.

Among the report's assorted other recommendations:

• Establish a new "Growth and Opportunity Inclusion Council" tasked with reaching out to Hispanics, African Americans, Asians and Pacific Islanders, Native Americans and other minority communities;
• Commit an initial $10 million to improving outreach to minority communities;
• Set up an "RNC Celebrity Task Force of personalities in the entertainment industry" to attract young voters, and encourage Republican leaders to "participate in and actively prepare for interviews" on the Daily Show, the Colbert Report and other media aimed toward younger Americans;
• Place a greater emphasis on early voting in political strategy, messaging and budgeting;
• Invest in full-time field staff in states beginning at a much earlier point in election cycles;
• Convene a quarterly summit of Republican pollsters, ensure an accurate model of likely voters and turnout for polling, and recommend that GOP polls include a 25 percent subsample of respondents who can be reached by cell phone only;
• Explore making more efficient television advertising purchases, including possibly shifting resources away from paid media and toward organizational efforts and alternative methods of voter contact;
• Work with outside conservative groups (to the extent that it's legal) to better define different organizations' responsibilities;
• Encourage a well-funded conservative group (akin to Democrats' group, American Bridge) dedicated to full-time tracking and research of Democratic candidates;
• Expand the RNC's low-dollar fundraising program, and seek more efficient finance staffing;
• "Convince Congress to remove the biennial aggregate contribution limits," or, absent that, seek to increase the contribution limits for federal campaigns;
• Abolish the public financing system for presidential campaigns, including the matching funds program;
• Replace taxpayer funding of national party conventions with a system in which party committees could raise additional funds for the conventions;
• Allow party committees to raise additional funds to support the maintenance of their buildings and facilities.

This story was originally published on Mon Mar 18, 2013 6:58 AM EDT

AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin drinks from a 7-Eleven Super Big Gulp on stage while speaking at the 40th annual Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., on Saturday. Earlier in the week a New York judge struck down a ban proposed by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to end the sale of sugared sodas larger than 16 oz.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin re-emerged into the national spotlight to level a blistering rebuke of both President Barack Obama and the Republican establishment, calling upon a friendly conservative audience to "stop preaching to the choir."

Amid the Republican soul-searching on display at this week's Conservative Political Action Conference, the onetime GOP vice presidential nominee issued her prescription: "Now is the time to furlough the consultants, and tune out the pollsters, send the focus groups home, and toss the political scripts," Palin said, "because If we truly know what we believe, we don't need professionals to tell us."

Palin's speech — the first major appearance she's made following the presidential election and her expired contract as a television analysts — was equally critical of Democrats and the Obama administration. Her remarks were a tour de force of conservative memes about Obama, dinging him on everything from his golfing to the canceled White House tours taking place under sequestration.

"Dandy idea, Mr. President — should've started with yours!" Palin said of the proposed expansion of background checks for gun purchases, earning her loud cheers from the conservative faithful in attendance. 

Alleging Obama of conducting a "permanent campaign," Palin said at another point: "Mr. President, we admit it, you won — now step away from the teleprompter, and do your job!"

Palin's speech was familiar for its folksiness (or kitsch) that helped her build a national profile following her stint as John McCain's running mate in 2008. She drank from a Big Gulp at one point during her speech — an allusion to the ban on large soft drinks sought by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. And she joked of her Christmas present to her husband, Todd: "He's got the rifle, I've got the rack."

That kind of signature style by Palin helped fuel the rise of the Tea Party movement, which earned her the enmity of liberals and the love of dyed-in-the-wool conservatives. But despite stoking speculation about her eventual career prospects, Palin opted against seeking the Republican nomination for president in 2012. The months following the election saw Fox News opt against renewing her contract as a contributor, putting the former Alaska governor on as uncertain footing as ever entering today's speech to CPAC, her second before the major conservative gathering. 

She used her platform on Saturday to deliver a lashing of the Republican establishment, characterizing the party's elected leaders and the consultants who support them as being "too calculating."

"They talk about rebuilding the party? How about rebuilding the middle class? They talk about rebranding the GOP, instead of restoring the trust of the American people," she said. "We're not here to dedicate ourselves to new talking points coming from D.C. We're not here to put a fresh coat of rhetorical paint on our party."

Palin's rebuke comes as the GOP's official instruments of power conduct their own autopsy of last year's unsuccessful election, and as conservatives this week offered their own ideas as to how to reinvigorate their movement. 

Some Republicans, for instance, argued to CPAC this week that immigration reform would help repair an electoral slide with Latino voters, an increasingly important electoral bloc whose growing support for Democrats threatens to marginalize the GOP. That won polite reception, but far from exuberant support. 

And the Republican National Committee on Monday will release its own official report on how to improve the party's infrastructure heading into the elections in 2014 and 2016. New conservative super PACs have arisen, too, to support Republican primary candidates regarded as more electable in general elections than some of their more conservative foes. 

"The last thing we need is Washington, D.C. vetting our candidates," she said.

Should conservatives shoot all the consultants now?

Top GOP strategists like Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie might want to watch out, because there was at least one apparent yes on Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
 
“Politics is like war. If you can’t win, get the hell going,” said Democratic pollster Pat Caddell, who also has been critical of President Obama and the Democrats. “It’s personally offensive when the GOP establishment throws away a win like they did in 2012.”

Caddell, a Fox News contributor, joined a handful of Republicans on a CPAC panel entitled “Should We Shoot All the Consultants Now?” to discuss how the party managed the 2012 campaign.

There was no clear consensus, except that Caddell was the most critical person in the room.
 
“I blame the donors who allow themselves to be played for marks. I blame the people in the grassroots for allowing themselves to be played for suckers,” he said. “It’s time to stop being marks. It’s time to stop being suckers. It’s time for you people to get real.”
 
Consultants have had overwhelming power for a long time, added Republican National Committeeman Morton Blackwell. He maintained that this influence hurts the party, because there is a strong incentive for consultants to spend money on advertising where they often receive a 15% commission. Ad buys, therefore, often take priority over “people-intensive activities” centered on grassroots organization.
 
But the sole consultant on the panel was more skeptical about directing the blame at one group. 
 
“Consultants are either geniuses or idiots every two years,” said Jeff Roe, founder of Axiom Strategies. “Consultants’ role on this is somewhat overstated.”
 
There are many other factors that set the campaign’s tone, agreed Brian Baker, president of the End Spending Action Fund. Everybody who is a part of the campaign is responsible for its failure, he said.

But Caddell had harsh words for Team Romney. “The Romney campaign is the single worst campaign in the history of the United States,” Caddell said. “[Chief strategist Stuart] Stevens had as much business running a campaign as I do sprouting wings and flying out of this room.”
 
He predicted that the Republican Party would become extinct, unless it became the anti-establishment, anti-Washington party.
 
“In my party, we play to win. We play for life and death,” said Caddell, who served as Jimmy Carter’s pollster. “Your party has no problem playing the Washington Generals to the Harlem Globetrotters.”

Other panelists, however, were more optimistic about the GOP’s future.
 
“I think he’s dead wrong,” said Baker, arguing that the party was still successful, especially outside of Washington.
 
“There are 30 Republican governors -- highest in the party in 12 years,” he said. “The Republican Party won over 700 seats in state legislative races in 2010 and there are now more Republican state legislators than in any time since the 1920s.”

Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney sought to pass the torch of leadership in the GOP to a new generation of conservatives in his first major public speech since losing last year's election. 

Romney, the failed candidate who challenged President Barack Obama in 2012, heralded a handful of Republican governors and his former running mate — Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan — as the next generation of GOP leadership. And he counseled party activists gathered here at the Conservative Political Action Conference to learn from his campaign's missteps. 

"It is up to us to make sure that we learn from my mistakes, and from our mistakes, so that we can win the victories those people and this nation depend upon," Romney told a warmly supportive CPAC crowd.

"It’s fashionable in some circles to be pessimistic about America, about conservative solutions, about the Republican Party," he added. "I utterly reject that pessimism. We may not have carried the day last Nov. 7, but we haven’t lost the country we love, and we haven't lost our way."

The former Massachusetts governor has kept a deliberately low profile following his lopsided loss versus Obama last November.

Following a campaign in which he was caricatured as out of touch — an image reinforced by his comments about "47 percent" of Americans depending upon government — many Republicans have quickly looked past Romney, who seemed at risk of becoming relegated to footnote status within the GOP.

But Romney used his speech to pledge to remain involved in Republican politics. 

"I am sorry that I will not be your president – but I will be your co-worker and I will stand shoulder to shoulder alongside you," he said. "In the end, we will win just as we have won before, and for the same reason: because our cause is just and it is right."

And Romney singled out a handful of Republicans in his speech who could become that next generation of winners.

He hailed South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (who introduced him), and Republican Govs. Rick Snyder (Mich.), Nathan Deal (Ga.), Scott Walker (Wis.), Susana Martinez (N.M.) and Brian Sandoval (Nev.), along with two governors who weren't invited to CPAC because of perceived apostasies against conservatism: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.

Romney made few references, aside from Ryan, to leaders in Congress. Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Rand Paul, R-Ky., or Ted Cruz, R-Texas, did not earn a shout-out from the former GOP nominee.

CPAC has been an important gathering for Romney in the past. He twice won its influential straw poll, and ended his first bid for the Republican nomination at 2008's gathering. Romney called himself a "severely conservative" governor during his speech at CPAC in 2012, a description which Democrats turned against him in the general election.

Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

Former Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney acknowledges supporters as he speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference at National Harbor, Md., March 15, 2013.

Before this gathering of Republican stalwarts, Romney also weighed in on the looming question before the GOP, about whether it should moderate in some respects, or continue to hew to its conservative ideology. 

He argued that a "conservative vision can attract a majority of Americans and form a governing coalition of renewal and reform."

It's unclear whether or when the public might expect to hear from again from Romney, who recently joined the executive committee of one of his sons' investment companies. But he struck a wistful note upon reflecting about his failed campaign.

"Thank you again for your help and support along our journey," he said. "Ann and I will treasure these memories all the days of our lives."

This story was originally published on Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:59 PM EDT

Mitt Romney has one term as governor, two presidential campaigns, three elite university degrees, decades of church leadership and 25 years in the private sector under his belt -- but at age 66, sources close to him say he’s trying to figure out what to do with his life.

But does a trip to the Washington, D.C. area to address the conservative CPAC conference on Friday mean that Romney is interested in waging a political comeback? 

“No, no. No,” said his son, Tagg emphatically. “He doesn’t want to be back… He’s done.”

Former campaign spokesman Ryan Williams says that while Romney is not seeking to be back in the public eye by addressing the crowd, there was a specific reason for choosing to make his first public speech since losing the election in front of this particular group.  “The CPAC speech is a chance for him to thank the activists who helped him during his presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012.” 

“He took the appropriate amount of time off, and is returning now because of the personal significance this event has for him,” Williams added.

As First Read has pointed out, Romney finished either first or second in every CPAC straw poll since 2007. What’s more, he ended his 2008 presidential bid at the conservative conference. And Williams says he can still remember the disappointment in the air when Romney’s speech concluded in ‘08. 

But when he speaks on Friday, he will no longer do so as a current or potential presidential candidate. “He understands that there’s a new generation of Republican leaders now emerging to guide the party,” Williams said.  “He’s not a politician who craves the spotlight.”

Romney’s quiet exit from public life is reminiscent of another family member’s -- his father, former Michigan Gov. George Romney.  Both men went into politics in their mid-50s after lucrative careers in the private sector.  George Romney lost a bid for president in 1968 and served briefly in the Nixon administration and then went on to spend decades in charity work. 

"My dad wants to be involved in giving back as well, and he's still figuring out the best way to do that,” Tagg Romney said.  Romney has said he is planning on dedicating time to a foundation working with children, but he has also signed on as chairman of the executive committee of Solamere, Tagg’s investment firm based in Boston. Romney will serve in that role for one week a month, and spend the rest of his time continuing to float between Utah and California, where his other sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren live.

Republicans will embark upon a major restructuring of their digital strategy as part of the Republican National Committee's new autopsy of the 2012 elections, NBC News has learned. 

When the RNC on Monday releases the findings of its "Growth and Opportunity Project" — the report ordered by Chairman Reince Priebus on the party's losses in the 2012 campaign — it will emphasize closing the GOP's widely-reported technological gap versus Democrats.

RNC chief of staff Mike Shields, whom Priebus recently hired to help shepherd the RNC's modernization, said he is working on "fundamentally restructuring the way the RNC works so it is centered around the technology department."

Shields said that the release of the RNC's report on Monday "kicks off the 2016 election cycle," pledging an unprecedented commitment to data and technology.

Republicans have repeatedly and openly talked since the election about their data disadvantage versus the Obama campaign. The president's re-election team's sophisticated, cutting-edge digital operation has been robustly chronicled since the election, and credited with helping propel Obama to a second term. 

Shields was reluctant to divulge any specifics of the RNC's new commitment to digital efforts, but said it would be far broader than any simple social media campaign. The RNC also intends to take its new tech operation on the road, to showcase the party's new capabilities for state parties, campaigns and activists.

"By first combining digital, data and tech, you are creating synergy in all of those areas based upon what data you are creating and what it tells you about voters," he said. "But further, by putting that entire department at the center of the organization, you are making your fundraising pitches better and your voter contact much better to ultimately help you win elections."

Republicans' new emphasis was spurred, in part, by Priebus's own meetings with various factions of the party across the country since the election to hear out concerns. To that end, he recently went to Silicon Valley and met with Facebook in order to deal with a recurrent theme he was hearing — that the Republican party was not technically on par with their Democratic counterparts.  

RNC spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski belied that holding a digital team in such high esteem was a rarity in the party, even during Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. 

"The digital campaign was not intergrated into daily decisions," said Kukowski. "But the digital department is not just in some basement anymore."

In his first interview since losing the 2012 presidential election, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney criticized President Obama’s early second-term performance and told Fox News Sunday that he’s still very much stung by his defeat.

“I look at what’s happening right now -- I wish I were there,” Romney told Chris Wallace, in a taping conducted last week in California. “It kills me not to be there, not to be in the White House doing what needs to be done.” 

Related: Boehner: 'I don't think anyone quite understands' how sequester gets resolved

Romney criticized President Obama’s handling of the budget showdown engulfing Washington, saying, “We don’t have to have gridlock settings one after the other, on issue after issue.”

Romney, who campaigned largely on a promise that he would cut the debt and federal spending, said that the current debate over the nation’s fiscal course, including the so-called “sequester” cuts, represents a missed opportunity.  “I see this as this huge opportunity, and it’s being squandered by politics, by people who are more interested in a political victory than they are in doing what’s right for the country. And it’s very frustrating.”

His wife, Ann Romney, conceded that she was not fully over the election defeat.  "It would have been much better for America, I believe, in my heart if he had been there right now."  When asked what she thought about President Obama’s campaign, Mrs. Romney told Wallace “I think it was a winning campaign. It worked.”  Wallace asked her if she thought the president’s campaign was fair, and she quickly responded that she did not, and that Obama had distorted public perception about her husband, who she called an “exceptional, wonderful person… that really, truly cared about the American people.”

Romney also allowed he made some mistakes during the course of his campaign.  One issue that plagued him at the end of his run was the release of a secretly recorded video showing him speaking at a fundraiser, in which he said that 47% of Americans would vote for the president no matter what, as they were “dependent on the government.”  He told Wallace that the statement was “very harmful” and “not what I believe.”

“There’s no question that hurt and did real damage to my campaign,” Romney admitted.

At the same time, however, Romney said that the “attractiveness” of the president’s health care plan was “a feature that we underestimated, particularly among”  low-income voters.

The couple were asked what it has been like to be out of the public eye, without the massive staff, security and press entourage that was with Romney's campaign at every move.  Ann Romney called the abrupt change an "adjustment, but it’s one that I think we did well."

Romney is making his first public address in two weeks, at C-PAC, a conservative group's annual conference in Washington, D.C.  He told Fox that while he was not expecting the Republican party to necessarily hang on of his every word going forward, he does still want to be involved. “I’m not going to disappear,” he said. “I care about America. I care about the people that can’t find jobs.”

The interview was filmed at the home of Romney's youngest son, Craig, in the San Diego area.  Craig and his wife, Mary, just welcomed newborn twins, Winston and Eleanor, two weeks ago, bringing the total number of grandchildren to twenty, a reality that was on the former candidate’s mind when discussing current events and his future plans.

“I care about my twenty grandkids – the kind of America they’re going to have. And sitting in the sidelines when so much is at stake is just not in my nature,” Romney told Wallace.

Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney will address CPAC, the annual gathering of conservative activists in Washington, Romney aides confirmed to NBC News.

"This is an opportunity for him to express his appreciation to supporters and friends," one Romney adviser told NBC News about the speech, news of which was first reported by National Review Online.

The speech marks a return to the public spotlight for the former Massachusetts governor, who's kept a low public profile since his loss to President Barack Obama on Nov. 6.

Romney addressed CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, last year; during his speech, he described himself as "severely conservative," a term turned back against him by the Obama campaign during the general election.

CPAC was also where Romney announced his withdrawal as a candidate for president in 2008.

One source said that the date of Romney’s speech has not yet been finalized  The conference runs from March 14 - 16.

Romney’s former running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., will also be addressing the crowd, as will his former rival for the 2012 Republican nomination, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

“The thousands gathered at CPAC this year are eager to hear from the former 2012 GOP presidential candidate at his first public appearance since the elections,” said Al Cardenas, the chairman of the American Conservative Union, which organizes CPAC. “We look forward to hearing Governor Romney’s comments on the current state of affairs in America and the world, and his perspective on the future of the conservative movement.”

This story was originally published on Wed Feb 20, 2013 2:12 PM EST