Republicans’ quest for more women elected officials on their side continues today, with the Republican State Leadership Committee’s re-launch of its program aimed at electing more women down-the-ballot.

RSLC Chairman Ed Gillespie, a former national party chairman, announced new leadership as well. Tennessee Speaker Beth Harwell, Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman, Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi will serve as co-chairs of the so-called “Right Women, Right Now” initiative.

“We believe that one of the ways to grow our Republican Party is to create a strong pipeline of diverse leaders to put some new voices on the escalator to higher office,” Gillespie said on a call with reporters. “The first steps of that are these state offices.”

The Republican National Committee identified electing more women at the national level as a priority in its December “Growth & Opportunity” report. Gillespie and the co-chairs of the group emphasized what they said was their program’s success in states. Recruiters identified 185 new Republican women candidates and 84 statewide elected officials.

“Right Women” dedicated more than $5 million last cycle to identify, support, and train women for offices from lieutenant governor on down. In particular, the program helps with messaging and fundraising.

Wyman won her race in blue Washington by less than a percentage point, and said that she couldn’t have done it without the RSLC.

“They really supported me and my candidacy with resources that helped secure my win,” she said. “‘Right Women, Right Now’ really helped put my candidacy over the edge.”

Bondi, in her new role as co-chair, promised “unprecedented” resources for the program and said that specific metrics, in terms of cash and candidates, will be set and rolled out in the coming months.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Presidential elections start in Iowa. 

On Friday, Sen. Rand Paul put his stake in the ground for a possible run in 2016 by mocking the Obama administration and delivering a blistering critique of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's handling of the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. The administration has been criticized for failing to provide security during the attack and for its characterization of the incident afterward.

Speaking at the Iowa GOP’s annual Lincoln Dinner, Paul questioned the initial response to the attacks and asked, "First question to Hillary Clinton: Where in the hell were the Marines?"

Matthew Holst / AP

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has his photo taken with Linda Stikle of Anamosa, Iowa, after he spoke at the Iowa GOP Lincoln Dinner on Friday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

"It was inexcusable, it was a dereliction of duty, and it should preclude her from holding higher office," the Kentucky Republican added to loud applause.

Republicans' search for a candidate to deliver their first victory in a presidential election since 2004 began as Paul used the plum speaking slot to plant the seeds for his own possible bid. And he won his biggest applause by taking on Clinton, who's seen as the early front-runner for the Democratic nomination to succeed President Barack Obama.

Paul was just elected to the Senate in 2010 and is perhaps best known as the son of the former Texas Congressman Ron Paul, whose two campaigns for president attracted a fervent, grassroots following that might translate to his son.

But the Kentucky senator has been far from shy about stoking speculation about his own play for the Republican nomination in 2016. He told reporters earlier Friday that he had not made up his mind and would not decide until 2014.

The fundraiser on Friday had unmistakable overtones of a presidential campaign, though the last one ended just six months ago. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, captured that sentiment best in his speech preceding Paul's: "The process of selecting the next leader of the free world begins in Iowa, and it's already begun."

Paul's speech doubled at times as a comedy scene, as he seemed at ease before the crowd, stepping away from the podium, microphone in hand, to project a casual demeanor. He rattled off jokes about absurd pork-barrel projects, recalling the campaign style of Arizona Sen. John McCain as he ran for president in 2008.

But Paul also used his closely watched speech to offer his own prescriptions about the path forward for the Republican Party, which has been suffering from somewhat of an identity crisis since Mitt Romney lost to Obama in last fall's election.

On no issue is that crisis more clear than immigration. A bipartisan bill has advanced in the Senate to allow undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship, but King and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, both railed against the proposal in their speeches before Paul's.

Paul has spoken in favor of some kind of immigration reform, a dicey topic before this Republican crowd, and he acknowledged those disagreements. But he also tried to align himself with King and Grassley — two of the most stalwart opponents of immigration reform.

"I'm also with Sen. Grassley and Congressman King on the fact that I think we were hoodwinked in 1968," he said, referencing the last time Congress passed a major immigration overhaul. "We were promised security, and it never came."

But Paul also said there's a "chance [he] could vote for the bill" if he can add amendments strengthening its border security measures.

Paul also spoke about broadening the party's appeal, namely to Latinos, African Americans and young voters.

"We're an increasingly diverse nation, and I think we do need to reach out to other people that aren't like us, don't look like us, don't wear the same clothes, that aren't exactly who we are," he said. "We're going to have to do something."

Related stories

• Clinton remains GOP focus as administration defends Benghazi talking points
• Iowa governor to 2016 hopefuls: 'Come early and often'

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) is asking the White House and State Department to hand over emails related to the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya, which House committees were able to see, but not keep or share, during their investigation into the response to the attack.

"Last I remember, the president said, and I'll quote, 'Would be happy to cooperate with the Congress in any way the Congress wants,'" Boehner said. "Well, this is his chance to show his cooperation so that we can get to the truth of what happened in Benghazi."

Boehner is asking for two sets of emails, both of which are related to whether the White House tried to change the initial characterization of the attack in Benghazi from a potential terrorist attack at the hands of Islamic radicalists to a spontaneous demonstration in response to an anti-Islam YouTube video.

The emails, according to Boehner, show a senior State Department official telling her superiors that the Libyan ambassador said the attack "was conducted by Islamic terrorists." This email was sent the day after the attack, which was days before U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice said on Meet the Press and other Sunday news shows that it was the result of a spontaneous demonstration.

The second set of emails, Boehner said, were between the White House and State Department officials, where they "insisted on removing all references to the terrorist attack to protect the State Department for providing inadequate security."

Asked if he thought the White House was lying about the response to the attack, Boehner said, "You can characterize it any way you want, but somebody clearly decided they didn't like the references to Islamic terrorism and made changes in this document."

Boehner's comments come after an emotional House committee hearing Wednesday into the Obama administration’s response to the attack, in which Gregory Hicks -- the former deputy chief of mission in Libya for the United States and the No. 2 diplomat there -- provided testimony saying he was "stunned" when the Obama administration was still claiming the attack was related to the viral anti-Islam video when they had been told otherwise.

"My jaw dropped, and I was embarrassed," Hicks told the committee Wednesday when he was asked about Rice's comments on the talk shows. 

Hicks told the committee he asked Undersecretary of State Beth Jones after Rice's interviews why they were saying "there was a demonstration when the embassy had reported only an attack."

Hicks said Jones answered by saying, "I don't know," but "the sense I got was that I needed to stop the line of questioning."

This story was originally published on Thu May 9, 2013 12:56 PM EDT

In an indicator of the continued influence of the nation’s largest gun-owners’ group, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and other Republican politicians addressed the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting in Houston Friday, celebrating the defeat of gun legislation in the Senate, assailing the media, and offering a strong defense of the powerful lobbying organization.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks during the 2013 NRA Annual Meeting and Exhibits at the George R. Brown Convention Center on May 3, 2013 in Houston, Texas.

Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, delivered a wide-ranging attack not just on President Barack Obama, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and other proponents of gun control measures, but on what she portrayed as attempts to curtail all personal freedoms.

In the wake of the Newtown, Conn., shootings, Palin accused Obama and other gun control proponents of emotionally manipulating voters and “exploiting emotion for their own agenda.” And news media organizations, she said, are “the reliable poodle-skirted cheerleaders for a president who writes the book on exploiting tragedy.”

In a reprise of her use of a 7-Eleven “Big Gulp” as a prop during the Conservative Political Action Conference to mock Bloomberg’s ban on large-sized sodas, she displayed a pack of cigarettes at the NRA event to poke fun at the mayor’s call for banning store displays of cigarettes.

Alluding to the defeat of a Senate measure two weeks ago to expand background checks for gun buyers, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas told the crowd that gun control measures a month ago had “looked like an unstoppable freight train” but that they and fellow gun owners across the nation had mobilized to stop it in a victory that was “truly amazing.” But he said Obama and his allies have said “that they intend to come back at us” with another attempt to pass gun legislation in the Senate.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Attendees walk on the show floor during the 2013 NRA Annual Meeting and Exhibits at the George R. Brown Convention Center on May 3, 2013 in Houston, Texas.

“We must do everything we can to stop violent crime,” the Texas Republican said, as he accused the Obama administration of not doing enough to prosecute felons and fugitives who try to buy guns as well as criminals who use a gun in the commission of a crime.

Cruz also challenged Vice President Joe Biden, who like Cruz is a potential 2016 presidential contender, to an hour-long debate on how to stop crime. “If Vice President Biden really believes the facts are on his side … I would think he would welcome the opportunity to talk about the sources, the causes of violent crime and how we do everything humanly possible to stop it.”

Chris Cox, the head of the group’s Institute for Legislative Action, said in Friday’s session that since Newtown, “We’ve seen the politicians, the national media, and their billionaire supporters attack us, ridicule us, and, worst of all, blame us for the acts of violent criminals and madmen.”

Also speaking Friday were Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum -- two other possible contenders for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

Santorum praised gun owners saying that -- in the wake of Newtown -- “when the entire tide of the national media and the popular culture was trying to erode a fundamental freedom, you stood tall -- as unpopular as it seemed -- you stood for the truth.”  

Two weeks ago, the NRA scored a major victory when the Senate rejected an amendment sponsored by two senators who had gotten NRA backing in their past campaigns, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., and Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa.

The Manchin-Toomey amendment would have required background checks on would-be firearms purchasers at gun shows at which 75 or more firearms were available for sale.

Under current law, although background checks are required to buy a weapon from a federally licensed dealer, no check is needed for those who buy from a private gun owner or at gun shows or similar events.

While most Republican senators opposed the Manchin-Toomey measure, three GOP senators in addition to Toomey himself voted for it. And while most Democratic senators voted for it, five Democrats voted no, including two who are up for re-election next year, Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Sen. Mark Begich of Alaska.

This story was originally published on Fri May 3, 2013 3:44 PM EDT

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) is urging a federal appeals court to overturn a three-judge panel's decision to declare an anti-sodomy law unconstitutional.

The Washington Blade reports that Cuccinelli filed a formal "petition with the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond asking the full 15-judge court to reconsider a decision by a three-judge panel last month that overturned the state's sodomy law. The three-judge panel ruled 2-1 on March 12 that a section of Virginia's 'Crimes Against Nature' statute that outlaws sodomy between consenting adults, gay or straight, is unconstitutional based on a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2003 known as Lawrence v. Texas."

Steve Helber / Steve Helber / AP file photo

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli speaks at a press conference Thursday, June 28, 2012.

Cuccinelli will be formally nominated as the Republican nominee in this year's governor's race by the state party at its convention May 18.

The move could potentially have repercussions for his gubernatorial bid in a state Barack Obama won in both 2008 and 2012. It also comes just as the U.S. Supreme Court is considering two cases dealing with gay rights, after the national party has urged Republicans to accept gays and lesbians, and as Senate Republicans like Rob Portman of Ohio and Mark Kirk of Illinois have announced their support for same-sex marriage.

Cuccinelli will be running against likely Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe, the former Democratic National Committee chairman and major Bill and Hillary Clinton fundraiser, in what is sure to be one of the most closely watched races this year.

More background from the Blade:

"The March 12 ruling of the appeals court's three-judge panel overturned a lower court decision upholding the conviction of a 37-year-old man charged in 2005 with soliciting a 17-year-old woman to engage in oral sex. The Attorney General's office argued that the Supreme Court's Lawrence decision didn't apply to cases involving minors. But 4th Circuit Appeals Court Judge Robert King, who wrote the majority opinion, said the Lawrence decision rendered the Virginia sodomy statue 'facially' or completely unconstitutional. He stated other laws could be used to prosecute an adult for engaging in sex with a minor and that the Virginia General Assembly would likely have authority under the Lawrence decision to pass a new law specifically outlawing sodomy between an adult and a minor."

The Alaska Daily News: “Rep. Don Young's use of an ethnic slur to describe the California farm workers who picked tomatoes for his father threatens to become an embarrassment for a Republican Party trying to court Hispanic voters.” More: “By 7 p.m. in Alaska, Young's office released a statement in which Young said he ‘meant no disrespect.’ But Young stopped short of apologizing.”

Young’s statement: "During a sit down interview with Ketchikan Public Radio this week, I used a term that was commonly used during my days growing up on a farm in Central California. I know that this term is not used in the same way nowadays and I meant no disrespect."

And: “Lupe Marroquin, the president of the Hispanic Affairs Council of Alaska, said she was disappointed by Young's remark. ‘It kind of opens your eyes to the way Don Young thinks,’ she said. ‘He didn't even pause. It's like that's just what he calls migrant farm workers.’”

Flashback: Bobby Jindal, Jan. 24 at RNC Winter Meeting: "We've got to stop being the stupid party. It's time for a new Republican Party that talks like adults. We had a number of Republicans damage the brand this year with offensive and bizarre comments. I'm here to say we've had enough of that."

Politico notes: “The lawmaker, the subject of a House Ethics Committee probe concerning contribution limits, has been in Congress for 40 years.”

Speaking of ethics, Roll Call: "A federal judge has refused to dismiss a suit in which former Sen. Larry Craig is accused of improperly using campaign funds in a quest to vacate his guilty plea in a Minnesota airport bathroom sting." (H/T: Political Wire.)

Political Wire: John Avlon notes Sarah Palin attempted to relaunch her political career this week with anew video which railed against ‘the big consultants, the big money men, and the big bad media.’ ‘But there's an irony alert ahead: the current stated purpose of SarahPAC is to raise money ahead of the 2014 election--most of which will be spent on conservative consultants.’”

Meanwhile… The George W. Bush presidential library will open next month. Tom DeFrank: “Bush partisans believe the institute will be the intellectual engine that in time rehabilitates the 43rd president’s image.” From one Dallas acquaintance: “George is happy as he can be. He’s convinced his achievement in keeping the country safe after 9/11 will get the attention it deserves as the years roll on.”   

More: “That’s probably why it’s no coincidence that the library’s signature exhibit from Bush’s eight years as president is a 17-foot, two-ton twisted piece of steel from the World Trade Center. The mangled, blistered remnant from that fateful day is known as ‘impact steel’ — experts have determined that it was actually struck by one of the jumbo jetliners on 9/11.”

And finally, listen up, dummy… Dale Peterson, yes that Dale Peterson, was arrested at a Sam’s Club for opening and eating a can of cashews. He put the empty can back on the shelf. This comes after Peterson was arrested for being accused of shoplifting beer and paper towels at Wal-Mart. He said then that he wasn’t shoplifting, just had to go to the bathroom.

Peterson’s defense this time: “I picked up some cashews when I got to Sams this afternoon. Ate a handful. Put them in my cart & kept shopping,” Peterson tweeted Thursday. “An hour later, when I went to checkout, I put the cashews back (forgetting I had eaten a few), purchased $700 of merchandise & went to jail.”

CPAC stands with Rand.

“Torch of liberty” scion Rand Paul was the choice of the plurality of conservatives at the Conservative Political Action Conference, as Paul won the much-hyped straw poll with 25 percent. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was a close second with 23 percent.

It shouldn’t be surprising that the Kentucky senator won the straw poll. This was not a weekend of self-reflection for conservatives. It was one of standing by principles, and no one more represents standing by principles than Paul.

Paul last week further endeared himself to conservatives by going through with a 13-hour filibuster – a modern-day record – of President Barack Obama’s nomination to be chief of central intelligence. That effort by the Tea Party favorite prompted Twitter hash tags, signs at CPAC, and even fundraising emails from the National Republican Senatorial Committee by the name of Stand With Rand. 

Additionally, with 23 people on the CPAC straw-poll ballot, Paul benefitted from the deepest support for a single candidate because of young Libertarians, many of whom make up CPAC's audience. In fact, a majority -- 52 percent -- of voters were between the ages of 18 to 25, according to Republican Tony Fabrizio, who analyzed the results for CPAC and made the official announcement Saturday.

CPAC has always attracted college-age activists, but this is an even higher number than in past years, according to Fabrizio.

Paul supporters have demonstrated strong organizational skills around straw polls over the last several years, as they helped Paul’s father, ex-Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, win the 2010 and 2011 CPAC straw polls.

Rick Santorum finished a distant third with 8 percent. Popular New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was not invited to CPAC, finished fourth with 7 percent; Paul Ryan, the 2012 vice-presidential candidate was next at 6 percent; then Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker 5 percent; neurosurgeon Ben Carson and keynoter Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, tied at 4 percent; followed by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and ex-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin percent.

Related: More CPAC coverage from NBC News

Forty-four others, including write-in votes for Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, and Allen West, got 14 percent. 

Before anyone makes too much of the results, remember that the last person to win the straw poll three years before an open presidential election (no incumbent) was Rudy Giuliani in 2005. While Giuliani led in many national polls, he only won 1 delegate in the Republican presidential primaries in 2008. And in 2006, the winner was George Allen, the former Virginia governor, who had his 2006 Senate race sunk by his YouTube utterance of "macaca," a term he used to describe a Democratic video tracker.

Voting took place throughout the weekend, but voting closed at 1 p.m. ET Saturday. CPAC organizers said privately they expected up to 8,000 and 10,000 activists at this year's conference -- 2,930 voted.

The ballroom at the event holds 3,500 seats, and up to 4,000 people when standing room is included. All voting took place electronically, either through kiosks at the site in National Harbor, Md., just outside Washington, D.C., through an app, or online.

This story was originally published on Sat Mar 16, 2013 5:49 PM EDT

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- He’s not exactly hired.

Donald Trump, the New York real estate mogul who flirted with a 2012 presidential bid, spoke largely off the cuff to a respectful, but somewhat bewildered crowd here at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

On the one hand, Trump spouted what could be seen as fairly liberal views, chiding the GOP and conservatives for wanting to cut entitlements and for becoming too conservative.

“Our country is in very, very serious trouble,” Trump said, adding, “Likewise the Republican Party is in serious trouble.” He said if the party wants to “change substantially” Medidcare, Social Security, and Medicaid, “and you think you’re going to win elections, it just really is not going to happen.”

But on the other hand, he also said the party should not jump too quickly on immigration reform because the 11 million undocumented immigrants would vote Democratic.

“Every one of those 11 million” illegal immigrants “will be voting Democratic and you have to be very, very careful. Odds are, it’s not looking so great for Republicans. … You’re on a suicide mission – you’re just not going to get that vote." 

At the same time, he said Europeans who want to immigrate to the U.S. and who have children who do well at American universities should be allowed to stay.

Trump also had praise for Mitt Romney, who will speak later. But had one critique.

“If Mitt Romney made one mistake,” Trump said, “he didn’t talk enough about his success. The Republicans and Mitt didn’t speak enough about the great things he did.”

After his speech, Trump held an unannounced news conference, but it was only open initially to select - and mostly conservative - media outlets. NBC was eventually allowed in after protesting.

Conservatives' struggles with immigration reform were on full display on Thursday at CPAC, as activists listened politely — but offered no warm embrace — to arguments that the American right should support a pathway to legalization or citizenship for the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.

Several members of a late-morning panel in immigration argued that supporting immigration reform was inherently conservative, and would help stem the tide of Latinos voting increasingly for Democrats in recent elections.

But the only major applause line of the panel came after Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, a Puerto Rican-American, decried the notion of allowing the undocumented immigrants currently in the United States a pathway to citizenship.

"It would be a travesty, in my opinion, to treat those who violated our laws to get here much better than those who have patiently waited their turn to come to the United States," he said.

The topic of immigration reform has long been a dicey one for conservatives. President George W. Bush had sought an immigration reform law in 2007, but it was felled largely by conservatives in his own party who decried the proposal as "amnesty." The influence of that uprising reverberated throughout the GOP, as former supporters of immigration reform moved rightward on the issue.

But following repeated losses in national elections — fueled, in part, by the growing influence of the Latino vote, and its increasing support for Democrats — Republican leaders have called for revisiting the issue of immigration to help stymie Hispanic voters' drift toward Democrats.

"If we're going to stop the tide against secular socialism, we need more allies," said the Republican pollster Whit Ayres.

"Every single month for the next 20 years, 50,000 Hispanic youngsters will turn 18-years-old, and become eligible to vote," he said, hoping to illustrate the inevitable, growing influence of Latino voters. "If we hope to have a vibrant, center-right coalition, we'd better reach out aggressively."

Added Jennifer Korn, of the American Action Network: "Right now what we have is de-facto amnesty, and that's just not acceptable … You can be conservative, and be for immigration reform."

But the crowd full of conservative activists offered no sense of a groundswell for immigration reform along the lines of the type of law currently being drafted in the Senate. That law, which has been cobbled together by a bipartisan group of senators, calls for stricter border enforcement, but also a path to earned citizenship for the 12 million undocumented immigrations estimated to be currently in the U.S.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a member of that bipartisan group who's helped sell the plan to conservatives, will speak later Thursday afternoon.

American Conservative Union chairman Al Cardenas spoke briefly with reporters ahead of the beginning of the CPAC conference -- explaining why he didn't invite New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and insisting that the GOP is "not a home for everybody."

As the conference opens, the GOP's identity crisis -- expand the tent, or try to convince more people to crowd under what's already built -- is on sharp display.

"I'm a firm believer that if the Republican Party's going to have success, it's going to do so by being a conservative party and not a home for ah, for everybody," Cardenas said. "And that's how you grow. I mean, look, you grow your tent by convincing others, and persuading others, that yours is the way, and you build your tent by reaching out to the new demographics of America not with a watered down version of who we ought to be but with a true, real, solid version of who we are."

Cardenas also repeated explanations for why the conference hadn't invited New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to speak at the event.

"This year, for better or for worse, we felt like, ah, like he didn't deserve to be on the all-star selection, ah, and, for decisions that he made. And so hopefully next year he's back on the right track and being a conservative," Cardenas said. "He's a popular figure, but everyone needs to live by the parameters of the movement."

Also not invited was Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who recently signed a transportation bill that included new taxes.

Cardenas approached McDonnell differently, however, saying the conference only had room for one Virginian -- attorney general Ken Cuccinelli, who's running for governor. Cardenas called him the "future" of the GOP in Virginia.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- RNC Chairman Reince Priebus met with a small group of black Republicans in Brooklyn as part of a "Listening Tour" effort, aimed at understanding what went wrong in the 2012 election, and how the party can improve its outreach, particularly to minorities.

The meeting was closed to the press, but Priebus talked to reporters before his discussion at the Christian Cultural Center in East New York.

"We can't just be a party of purity," Priebus said. "We have to be a welcoming party." He added, "We gotta put a smile on our face. We can't just go from one mad interview to the next about the national debt and deficit. We have to tell the story of our party that's inspirational, and we have to be in it for the long haul."

Priebus also conceded that Republicans have "a real quality of contacts issue. ... What I'm talking about is showing up four months before an election, and the other side, who's been in the community for four years straight."

Not only has that method proved ineffective, Priebus said, but, "Secondly -- it's not right."

The trip comes ahead of RNC findings, to be released Monday, from its "Growth and Opportunity Project," the group's autopsy of the 2012 campaign. Priebus has engaged in multiple such meetings with minority groups across the country in recent months -- from California to Atlanta to New York.

Communications Director Sean Spicer said, as Priebus spoke inside, that the common gripe Priebus has heard in these sessions, from disaffected voters, is, "You can't just show up."

Spicer elaborated that taking a hard look at the issue, and figuring out how and where to place personnel across the country, would be a main initiative of the RNC's going forward. It was something that was discussed at a major Republican donor retreat held in Coral Gables, FL, this past weekend as well.

Republicans got walloped with minority voters in the 2012 election. President Obama won 93% of African Americans, 73% of Asians, and 71% of Latinos.

"The key thing now isn't to say, in four years from now, we need to get 40 or 50 percent of the vote -- that would be silly," Spicer said. "But I think you can say that 7 percent is unacceptable. We need 9, then we need 11, then we need 14."

RNC Committeewoman Dr. Ada Fisher, the first and only African-American female to be elected to the body, came up from North Carolina to support Priebus at today's event. She contended in an interview with NBC that President Obama largely won such a high percentage of American-American voters by making a campaign promise to "go give people stuff we can't afford."

"What we're doing now is coming out of the shadows," Fisher said. "Just because you're fiscally conservative doesn't mean you're racist and mean."