Growth & Opportunity Project

The report found that Republican governors were far more successful in messaging and managing public perception than Republican Congressmen. It also found that the party had become ideologically constrained, communicating only to people that agreed with the Republican platform. Concerns regarding messaging were raised, including the perception of apathy by the Republican Party and changing demographics that the party was not reaching. It recommended increased focus on criticizing big business and demonstrating concern for poorer Americans.[3]

The report found that "the perception that the GOP does not care about people is doing great harm to the Party and its candidates on the federal level, especially in presidential years."[1] It emphasized directing messaging toward Hispanic and Latino Americans when considering changing demographics, emphasizing the increasing Hispanic population in the United States and urging the party to limit its rhetoric on immigration policy. It also recommended appealing to younger voters by reducing social conservatism in the party.[3]

The report emphasized the importance of appealing to African-American, Latino, Asian, women, gay, and young voters, citing changing demographics and the increased skepticism these groups held toward the Republican Party. It warned that the increasing non-white population in the United States threatened to make elections more difficult for Republicans if the party did not attempt to reach these voters.[2] It proposed a "Growth and Opportunity Inclusion Council" modeled after the New Majority Council implemented by the RNC in 1997.[1]

The report called for an update in how campaigns collect data and operate digitally.[4] It called for increased investments and innovation in the area, and it proposed a digital "road show" to help Republican campaigns adopt better practices in data collection.[2] Other changes in the campaign process it called for included how the party approached early and absentee voting, candidate recruitment, vendor selection, voter registration, polling, media placement, and communication with state parties.[1]

The report encouraged outside groups supporting Republicans to spend less on TV advertising, citing little change in polling after $1 billion of such spending. Another proposal was the creation of an opposition research organization that publishes damaging or inappropriate statements by Democrats.[3] The report also proposed other changes in the activity of affiliated organizations, including their role in the primary process, use of technology, putting out information, polling, collaboration of allied organizations through the RNC, testing of campaign strategies, decentralization, voter registration, promoting the successes of governors, and ideological diversity.[1]

The report called for expansion of low-dollar fundraising, digital fundraising, and direct marketing through mail and by phone. It also proposed the use of surrogates and fundraising training to assist smaller campaigns.[1]

The report called for campaign finance reform at the federal and state levels, expressing opposition to the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act.[1]

The report recommended reform to presidential primary elections held by the Republican Party. It proposed reducing the number of debates from 20 down to 10 as well as holding the Republican National Convention earlier, in June or July.[2] It also suggested restructuring the primary election process to move away from the "long, winding, often random" state-by-state sequence.[3]