Mediaboss Marketing

WASHINGTON -- A year after Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus commissioned a report that suggested sweeping changes in how the party operates, he touted progress on many fronts -- but distanced himself from a key recommendation to increase its appeal to the Latino community: support for comprehensive immigration reform.

In a breakfast with reporters Tuesday tied to the anniversary of the release of the "Growth and Opportunity Project," Priebus detailed structural changes he said have "fundamentally reshaped the way we do business at the RNC." They include a major investment to eliminate a technology gap Democrats have enjoyed, largely because of the sophisticated data operation of President Obama's reelection campaign, as well as the deployment of a "permanent, coast-to-coast, year-round ground game" intended to spread the Republican message in communities Priebus said the party had long ignored.

Appealing to growing demographic groups, such as the Latino community, was a major component of the 100-page document, with its authors noting how "precarious" the party's position has become. Its first recommendation was for Republicans to engage with ethnic minority voters and "show our sincerity." Second was to "embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform."

"If we do not, our Party's appeal will continue to shrink to its core constituencies only," the authors stated.

Asked about that recommendation at the breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, Priebus said he "generally" supports the idea but that there were disagreements in both parties about exactly what comprehensive reform should look like. He also noted that leading GOP figures have talked about the need for immigration reform, as Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky did in a speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

"I think we do need to tackle this issue. And I think there's general agreement in the party that that needs to happen. But I would say that there's not agreement as to what exactly that package looks like," he said.

He downplayed the role of immigration reform as a gateway issue for Latino voters, saying it was more important for the party to simply engage with the community to share its message on other key issues.

"Showing up is a big part of the battle," he said. "Actually 37% of Hispanics identify themselves as conservatives. But if we don't go into Hispanic communities on a year-round basis and explain what it is that we believe as a party, then those dots can never be connected."

Asked by a reporter after the breakfast to discuss when immigration reform ought to be taken up, Priebus said it was a question better posed to congressional leadership. And when challenged on the issue, he went further in seeming to distance himself from the recommendation.

"This is not the RNC's report," he said. "It was a report that the RNC asked these people to put together. And the report speaks to an array of issues that partly affect us and partly affect other people. And you're asking me about a particular issue in the report that speaks to the legislature."

Here is the original post:

A year after 'autopsy,' GOP still struggles on immigration reform

One year ago, a frank Republican Party assessment of why it came up short in the 2012 presidential election included a stark recommendation.

Embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform, the post-mortem authors urged, or get used to a party whose appeal "will continue to shrink to its core constituents only."

That bold assertion was decidedly offstage Monday, as the party orchestrated a full-on media effort to mark advances it says it's made as a result of recommendations contained in the 2013 Growth and Opportunity Project report.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus pointed to successes over the past 12 months including improved data collection, new state-level staffers more involved in minority communities, and a rejiggering of the presidential primary, debate and convention schedules calendar changes designed to condense the season and not leave the eventual nominee so battered.

The party has already moved the start of its primary season to February, its convention to late June or early July, and is working to limit the number of candidate debates.

Glenn McCall, a committee member from South Carolina and one of five co-authors of the 2013 "autopsy," said that the party had heard the message that "we were not showing up."

McCall, who is African-American, said that he has seen "solid progress, and comprehensive progress" in terms of party field workers going to "communities where we've never gone before."

Sally Bradshaw, a Florida committee member and report co-author, said some of the progress the party has made on the digital and data front helped Republican candidate David Jolly win a Florida special election last week for a vacant congressional seat.

The victory over Democrat Alex Sink, Bradshaw said, was in part due to a new canvassing app developed by the national committee that provided voter log lists and other data fed directly to the RNC.

But it was clear during an RNC-arranged media call that party leaders wanted to avoid an issue that has pitted electorally pragmatic GOP members against a right flank that has blocked immigration reform in the U.S. House especially at a time when the Democratic Party is struggling for a midterm issue and faces losing control of the Senate this fall.

Read the original here:

After party 'autopsy,' GOP touts progress

Natividad Gonzalez (C) of Clanton, Ala., and other immigration reform activists holds signs and Badges of Courage during a March 11, 2014 news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

President Barack Obamas surprise announcement last week that his administration would change its deportation policy to become more humane shows how the immigration battle has narrowed after months of congressional deadlock.

As recently as last year, immigrant rights activists, along with an unusually broad coalition of business, labor and religious groups, were united in their demand that Congress pass a sweeping bill to both remove the threat of deportation from many of the 11 million people here illegally and eventually make them citizens. But now activists first just want to stop deportations.

They have pressured Obama to limit the number of people sent back overseas, which led to his administrations announcement Thursday of a review of deportation policies after a meeting with the Hispanic Congressional Caucus. Activists also are pushing state legislatures to end participation in a program to help federal immigration authorities deport people and chaining themselves across entrances to local jails or immigration detention centers.

We need relief and we need it soon, said Reyna Montoya, 23, of Phoenix, whose father is fighting deportation and who co-wrote an open letter with dozens of other young activists urging immigrant rights groups to stand down on the citizenship issue. People who are directly affected just want peace. Later on theyll worry about becoming citizens.

Immigrant rights groups still want legislation to grant citizenship for many who are in the U.S. without legal permission. But the prioritization of deportation relief shows the desperation felt by immigrant communities as deportations have continued, even as the president and many in Congress say they support changing the law to allow some of those people to stay in the U.S.

It also represents the possible splintering of the diverse coalition that long sought a single remedy to the nations immigration problems: one sweeping bill to expand citizenship. And the more aggressive, confrontational tactics also raise the risk of a public backlash.

One picture of a cop with a bloody nose and its all over for these people, Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors greater restrictions on immigration, said of the activists.

The change comes after many expected Congress to pass a sweeping immigration overhaul last year. Republicans have been torn between some in their base who want to step up deportations and others alarmed at how Hispanics, Asians and other fast-growing communities are increasingly leaning Democratic.

The Senate in June passed a bipartisan bill to legalize, and eventually grant citizenship to, many of the 11 million people in the U.S. illegally. But the bill died in the Republican-controlled House. Republican leaders there floated a proposal that could stop short of citizenship for many people here illegally. But Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, acknowledged it stood little chance of passing.

Read more here:

Immigration activists make stopping deportations main priority

Horsford stands with Keeping Families Together to push for immigration reform
Representative Steven Horsford (NV-4) stood with Keeping Families Together and other reform advocates to push Speaker Boehner to bring up a comprehensive imm...

By: Rep. Steven Horsford

Continued here:

Horsford stands with Keeping Families Together to push for immigration reform - Video

hide captionImmigration supporters gather during a rally for citizenship on Capitol Hill last year.

Immigration supporters gather during a rally for citizenship on Capitol Hill last year.

One year ago, a frank Republican Party assessment of why it came up short in the 2012 presidential election included a stark recommendation.

Embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform, the post-mortem authors urged, or get used to a party whose appeal "will continue to shrink to its core constituents only."

That bold assertion was decidedly offstage Monday, as the party orchestrated a full-on media effort to mark advances it says it's made as a result of recommendations contained in the 2013 Growth and Opportunity Project report.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus pointed to successes over the past 12 months including improved data collection, new state-level staffers more involved in minority communities, and a rejiggering of the presidential primary, debate and convention schedules calendar changes designed to condense the season and not leave the eventual nominee so battered.

The party has already moved the start of its primary season to February, its convention to late June or early July, and is working to limit the number of candidate debates.

Glenn McCall, a committee member from South Carolina and one of five co-authors of the 2013 "autopsy," said that the party had heard the message that "we were not showing up."

McCall, who is African-American, said that he has seen "solid progress, and comprehensive progress" in terms of party field workers going to "communities where we've never gone before."

Sally Bradshaw, a Florida committee member and report co-author, said some of the progress the party has made on the digital and data front helped Republican candidate David Jolly win a Florida special election last week for a vacant congressional seat.

Go here to see the original:

One Year After Party 'Autopsy,' GOP Touts Progress