A group of high-profile social conservatives warned Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus in a letter this week that their supporters could abandon the GOP if the party seeks to change its position on social issues, particularly same-sex marriage. 

Thirteen social conservatives, representing various influential groups, wrote Priebus ahead of the RNC's quarterly meeting this week in Los Angeles to sternly rebuke the conclusions of a post-election report that advised Republican elected officials to adopt a softer tone toward social issues. 

"We respectfully warn GOP Leadership that an abandonment of its principles will necessarily result in the abandonment of our constituents to their support," concludes the letter, which was obtained by and independently verified by NBC News in advance of the meeting this week. 

The letter further asks GOP committeemen to pass a resolution at their meeting this week re-affirming the party's 2012 national platform, which includes language calling for bans on abortion and same-sex marriage.

"Chairman Priebus agrees that we must stand up for our conservative principles while we work together to grow our party and win elections and has been traveling the country with that message," said Kirsten Kukowski, an RNC spokeswoman. Furthermore, she said that a resolution re-affirming the platform was currently being drafted, and would likely win approval from the full RNC this Friday.

The Growth and Opportunity Project report, commissioned by Priebus in the wake of Republicans' losses in last fall's elections, offered a number of recommendations for the party to broaden its appeal and be more competitive in future national elections. 

Among its recommendations were that Republican officials speak with a more welcoming tone on social issues, particularly abortion rights and gay rights, the latter of which the report said had become a "gateway" for whether young voters decide whether to identify as Republicans. 

To that end, several high-profile Republicans have emerged in recent weeks (along with a slew of elected Democrats) to back marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples, including Sens. Rob Portman, Ohio, and Mark Kirk, Ill.

Much of the conservatives' letter to Priebus stresses the issue of gay rights, and challenges the logic of the Growth and Opportunity Project's advice to broaden the party's appeal. Holding the line against same-sex marriage, the letter argues, would allow Republicans to make better inroads, for instance, into more traditionally-minded corners of the African American community. 

"It is the faith-based community which offers Republicans their best hope of expanding their support in these groups," the signatories wrote. "Going 'vanilla' or even changing long held positions would quickly end this opportunity."

The conservatives additionally expressed their anger at what they said was an insinuation that they had treated gays and lesbians unkindly. 

"The fact that the party is strongly committed to traditional marriage has not prevented their involvement through GOProud or Log Cabin Republicans," they wrote. "We deeply resent the insinuation that we have treated homosexuals unkindly personally."

The letter speaks to the difficulties Republican leaders face in their efforts to broaden the GOP's appeal. While party leaders have spoken, for instance, about the need to pass comprehensive immigration reform to appeal to the increasingly important Latino electorate, there are corners of the conservative establishment which harbor deep resistance to reform.

“This letter makes it perfectly clear that the GOP is caught between a rock and hard place. For decades, they’ve made a devil’s bargain with the Religious Right, and now they’re finding that they can’t reach out to moderate voters without totally alienating the base," said Michael Keegan, the president of People for the American Way, about the GOP's struggles. “There’s no question that continuing to pander to the Religious Right is a recipe for becoming a permanent minority party. We’ll see this week if the RNC is ready to contemplate making some tough changes or if they’re just going to keep drifting towards irrelevance.”

The same is generally true for leaders who have called for a more inclusive tone on social issues. Republican leaders are quick to note the missteps of Senate candidates Todd Akin in Missouri and Richard Mourdock in Indiana, and how their comments about rape and abortion both cost them each a chance at a Senate seat, and weighed nationally upon Republicans.

In response, social conservatives have begun to flex their muscle within the GOP to assert their relevance as a major part of the modern GOP's foundation. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who became a darling among social conservatives during his 2008 presidential campaign, has also warned social conservatives could abandon the Republican establishment. He told Newsmax magazine that if the GOP shifts its position on same-sex marriage, "they're going to lose a large part of their base because evangelicals will take a walk."

The signatories to this week's letter were:

• Gary Bauer, President, American Values
• Paul Caprio, Director, Family-Pac Federal
• Marjorie Dannenfelser, President, Susan B. Anthony List
• Dr. James Dobson, President and Founder, Family Talk Action
• Andrea Lafferty, President, Traditional Values Coalition
• Tom Minnery, Executive Director, CitizenLink
• William J. Murray, Chairman, Religious Freedom Coalition
• Tony Perkins, President, Family Research Council
• Sandy Rios, VP of Government Affairs, Family-Pac Federal
• Austin Ruse, President, Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute
• Phyllis Schlafly, President, Eagle Forum
• Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, Founder, Traditional Values Coalition
• Tim Wildmon, President, American Family Association

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

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."

Updated 4:40 p.m. — CHARLOTTE, N.C.  — After being easily re-elected to head the Republican National Committee for another term, Chairman Reince Priebus urged his party to leave behind traditional notions of which states are winnable for the party.

"At the RNC we are dropping ‘red’ and ‘blue’ analysis," he said in remarks shortly after being elected almost unanimously. "We must be a party concerned about every American in every neighborhood."

The chairman called for more outreach to minority communities, a greater focus on digital outreach and jettisoning the party's image as obstructionist.

"We will be a Republican Party that people will want to join," he said of the next presidential election. "A party that inspires again. Not a party that just says 'no'…but a party that says “follow us to a brighter future.”

For Priebus, that future could include an embrace of the plans of some GOP-led state legislatures who hope to reapportion their electoral votes by congressional district rather than the winner-take-all system currently espoused by almost all the states.

"I think it's a state issue but personally I'm pretty intrigued by it," Priebus told reporters after his election.

The idea of changing the electoral vote apportionment — which would reflect the concentrated political sensitivities of carefully drawn congressional districts — has prompted outcry from Democrats who accuse the GOP of changing the rules of a game they proved unable to win in 2008 and 2012.

And not all Republicans are crazy about the idea.

In a statement, a spokesman for Republican VIrginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said he doesn't back the legislation.  "He believes Virginia's existing system works just fine as it is. He does not  believe there is any need for a change," said McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin.

Priebus disputed the notion that a reapportionment would run counter to the idea that Republicans should compete in "every neighborhood."

"It's a state issue," he said. "State legislatures decide it, governors decide it, but as far as our presence in those states — you still have to compete" 

WAUKESHA, WI – Paul Ryan played up his Badger State roots in suburban Milwaukee on Monday, hoping to add Wisconsin to the Republican column in a presidential election for the first time since 1984.

Speaking at a town hall with just 22 days before the election, the Republican vice presidential nominee encouraged the crowd to vote early, which voters can do beginning in a week, on Oct. 22.

“Let’s not forget, early voting starts pretty soon, so you can vote early, you can vote early absentee so that you can make sure we work on making phone calls and getting people to the polls because you know what we learned here in Wisconsin?” the seven-term Wisconsin congressman said before the roughly 1,300 people at the event. “We learned that if you’d say to people here’s who I am, this is what I believe in, and this is what I'm going to do, in Wisconsin we elect them and then they go do it and that’s exactly what we’re going to do for the United States of America we’re going to take on these challenges in this country.”

Wisconsin -- which is considered a battleground state by NBC News -- has 10 electoral votes to award in the upcoming election and both Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama’s campaigns are putting an emphasis here. The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll showed Obama leading Romney in the state, 50 percent to 45 percent.

”Let’s make sure that we win Wisconsin. Let’s get out to the polls. Let’s get people there. We are on a winning streak here in Wisconsin. Let’s keep that winning streak going,” Ryan, joined by both of his brothers sitting beside him, said at Carroll University.

Though Wisconsin is generally seen as more sympathetic to Democrats in presidential contests, Republicans have made significant inroads here in recent year thanks to Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, a native of the state, and Gov. Scott Walker, who survived a recall election after curbing public workers' collective bargaining rights.

While Walker joined Ryan here today, both Walker and Priebus appeared with Ryan at a fundraiser for former governor and current U.S. Senate candidate, Tommy Thompson, Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee.

“I think it is wonderful that Wisconsin has become the epicenter of politics – Republican politics -- we are on a role ladies and gentlemen. And these three champions back here are the current and the future leaders of the Republican Party,” Thompson -- who is running in a tight race with Democratic Rep. Tammy Baldwin --  said at the Harley Davidson Museum as he motioned towards Ryan, Walker, and Priebus.

Ryan's Wisconsin roots were on full display early Monday morning as he gave a shout out to his favorite football team during his ninth public event in the state.

“Nothing better than going to bed with 6 TDs under Aaron Rodgers’s belt, huh? That was an awesome game, I got to tell you to go down to Texas against a 5-0 team on the road and have that kind of performance it reminds me of what it's going to look like on November the 6th,” he said, noting the Packers tie he was wearing.

The VP nominee heads to Ohio, another crucial state, this afternoon where he will hold a rally in Cincinnati.

BOSTON -- Mitt Romney's campaign and its fundraising allies announced Sunday they had brought in $111.6 million dollars last month, making August the most lucrative fundraising month yet for the GOP nominee and the third straight month Team Romney has raised more than $100 million dollars.

In a press release, the campaign said it now has $168.5 million in cash-on-hand between the Romney campaign, the Republican National Committee and the state parties which combine to make up the so-called "Romney Victory" fund. The Obama re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee raised more than $114 million in August, campaign manager Jim Messina said early Monday morning, Reuters reported. 

 The Romney campaign said 94% of the donations they received in August came from donors who gave less than $250 dollars apiece, for a total of $34.6 million dollars, and that donations came from all 50 states the District of Columbia.

On August 10th, Romney announced the selection of Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate, and the campaign touted the subsequent spike in online giving for days after the selection as a sign of increased grassroots support for the Republican effort.

A joint statement from Romney national finance chairman Spencer Zwick and RNC chairman Reince Priebus used the fundraising totals to continue to push the campaign's latest motivating question, meant to undermine support for President Obama: Are voters better off today than they were four years ago?

“Americans are not better off than they were four years ago and they are looking for a change of leadership. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are offering bold solutions to our country’s problems – that is why we are seeing such tremendous support from donors across the country," Zwick and Priebus said.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Mitt Romney would be elected president if the election were held today, the Republican National Committee's chairman boldly predicted Monday.

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus predicted a Romney victory based on projected wins in several swing states (polls of which are less definitively optimistic for Romney).

"I feel real good that if the election was held today, we’d be winning today. If the election is tied, we’re going to win the election," Priebus said during a press conference today kicking off the GOP’s "rapid response" effort during the Democratic National Convention.

"Independents are not going to suddenly have an epiphany," Priebus continued, "and decide that everything is great."

Pressed by a reporter on which states Romney would win if the election were held today, Priebus doubled down.

"For one, I think we win Wisconsin today," Priebus said of his home state, adding: "I think we win Florida today. I think we win Virginia. I think that we win Iowa."

Priebus said Romney would be close in Ohio, a state he called a "toss-up."

Yet demonstrating the GOP’s not-so easy electoral map in November, Romney winning Wisconsin, Florida, Virginia, and Iowa would still leave him short of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency, especially if Romney doesn’t carry Ohio.

The GOP will hold press conferences several times daily this week, inside a television studio nestled in the basement of Charlotte’s NASCAR museum.

"Today, the thrill and pixie dust of Barack Obama’s presidency is gone. Americans feel no hope, and have seen a change for the worst," Priebus told reporters. "Democrats are dispirited.  Enthusiasm is clearly on the Republican side."

Priebus was joined today by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT). Other officials slated to participate in the GOP effort here include Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Monday's official session of the Republican National Convention lasted just over 33 seconds, gaveled into recess until Tuesday.

Mark Wilson / Getty Images

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus bangs the gavel to start the Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on August 27 in Tampa, Fla.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus opened the convention promptly at 2 p.m. ET, and immediately thereafter ordered the convention into recess. The effective cancellation of Monday's activities came after inclement weather plagued the west coast of Florida for most of Monday.

There were a few extracurricular activities beyond the abbreviated official business.

Republicans started their clock tabulating mounting U.S. national debt over the course of their convention. (The clock approached about $15 million 10 minutes after the convention had been called to order.)

Priebus also called for a moment of reflection for first responders keeping the convention safe and handling the impact of Tropical Storm Isaac.

A reverend also delivered a short invocation that, among other things, paid tribute to the late astronaut Neil Armstrong.

Beyond that, a half-full floor of delegates were treated to a short, inspirational film about nominee-in-waiting Mitt Romney. 

JANESVILLE, WI -- Mitt Romney made a bold prediction in Wisconsin to open the fourth day of his swing state bus tour: he would steal the Badger State from the Democratic column this November.

"I think President Obama had just put this in his column, he just assumed at the very beginning Wisconsin was going to be his," Romney told a crowd of more than 700 supporters gathered on a factory floor here. "But you know what, we’re going to win Wisconsin. We’re going to get the White House."

Romney made only one stop here today on his five-day, six-state bus tour, and it might be for the best -- his campaign bus might not have seats for all the surrogates who came out to support him this morning.

Evan Vucci / AP

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gestures during a campaign stop at Monterey Mills June 18 in Janesville, Wis.

There was Sen. Ron Johnson, who toppled Democrat Russ Feingold in 2010, and Reince Priebus, the Kenosha-born former Wisconsin GOP chairman who now leads the Republican National Committee.

"I got to tell you we have a little stimulus plan of our own and the stimulus plan is renowned by economists, like Paul Ryan," Priebus said. "Here is the stimulus plan: elect Mitt Romney, fire Barack Obama, and save America, right?"

But the loudest cheers weren't for Rep. Paul Ryan, the hometown favorite in Janesville and possible vice presidential contender; Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, the recent victor in a recall election who introduced Romney, who elicited the loudest cheers from the crowd.

“It is my honor to still be the 45th governor of Wisconsin and it is my honor to be on the stage with the man I hope is the 45th president of these United States,” Walker said.

Walker's retention in the face of a labor-backed recall challenge, has fired up the Republican base here. The governor emerged as a hero to conservatives after eliminating most public workers' collective bargaining rights. Despite sharp disagreements over the implications of Walker's victory over Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D) earlier this month, the Romney campaign's senior advisers say they plan to compete aggressively in Wisconsin this fall, if only to keep President Obama on defense.

Romney was also on the attack this morning, accusing the president of replacing a slogan of "hope and change" with a hope to change the subject away from the economy, and of being unable to run on a tepid economic recovery the president insists needs more time to catch fire.

"These are challenging times for Americans, and because of [President Obama's] failed record his campaign is having a hard time deciding what to talk about, because they’d like to talk about the economy, they'd like to talk about his record but you know, the last time his campaign slogan was hope and change this time he’s going with: we hope to change the subject," Romney said.

Romney and Democrats also traded charges of evasiveness in the speech and subsequent spinning from the Obama campaign, with a spokesperson for the president's campaign declaring Romney's speech to be packed with "evasive and angry rhetoric," and Romney accusing the president of trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the American people as he fought for more time in office.

"He tries to tell people that his policies are actually working, that its just taking longer than we had all been told—promised," Romney said. "And I can tell you that I know he’s a very eloquent person and he’s able to describe these policies in great detail and in some respects tell you that night is day and day is night, but people know better."