Demographic Partners
A Growth and Opportunity Inclusion Council
1. We recommend the formation of a new Growth and Opportunity Inclusion Council within the RNC modeled after the program founded in 1997 by the RNC. This organization would convene a minimum of four times annually for training, sharing of ideas and assessment of the effectiveness of current strategies.
2. This new organization should work in conjunction with each state to develop statewide initiatives designed to expand and diversify the base of the state party. The RNC should highlight these successful events.
3. This new organization should build a broad grassroots outreach effort to increase the Party base by promoting the inclusion in the Party of traditionally under-represented groups and affiliations.
4. This new organization should conduct nationwide grassroots educational programs through symposiums, lectures, and forums to exchange ideas and to raise awareness of alternate political solutions to addressing the concerns of minority communities and the electorate at large. It should serve as an educational resource on economic, social, and political issues affecting minority Americans at all levels of government.
5. This new organization should identify, prepare and promote a diversified and talented pool of future candidates and leaders within the Party, and identify and recruit individuals whose values and beliefs are consistent with the ideals, philosophy and principles espoused by the Republican Party through leadership summits, etc.
6. This new organization should convene national and state focus groups with
non-Republican ethnic groups in an effort to gain insight as to real and perceived issues affecting their communities.
7. This new organization should design a surrogate program to train and prepare ethnic conservatives for media presentations nationally and locally. Surrogates would speak on behalf of the Republican Party on issues of the day.
8. This new organization should develop a program designed to educate Republicans on the importance of developing and tailoring a message that is non-inflammatory and inclusive to all.
9. There should be fundraising events hosted by this new organization to support a diversified candidate pool.
10. This new organization should collaborate with other Republican organizations of diversity, to the extent allowed by law.
11. Because we can’t expect to address these demographic groups if we know nothing about them, this new organization should establish a training program available to all Republican candidates that would educate them on the particular culture, aspirations, positions on issues, contributions to the country, etc., of the demographic group they are trying to reach.
12. The RNC should establish a grassroots program to help grow the Republican share of the minority vote and begin by targeting it in red states with significant minority populations. The plan would outline anticipated demographic changes, recent electoral history, whom we should target and some suggestions on how that could be done. This would be a reasonably inexpensive program and only require one staffer at a state party to coordinate the effort. It is also a good candidate program for matching funds from out-of-state donors.
13. This new organization should encourage governors to embrace diversity in hiring and appointments to the judiciary, boards, and commissions.
14. The RNC should consider hiring a faith-based outreach director to focus on engaging faith-based organizations and communities with the Republican Party.
Hispanics
1. The RNC should hire Hispanic communications directors and political directors for key states and communities across the country.
2. On issues like immigration, the RNC needs to carefully craft a tone that takes into consideration the unique perspective of the Hispanic community. Message development is critical to Hispanic voters.
3. The Republican Party is one of tolerance and respect, and we need to ensure that the tone of our message is always reflective of these core principles. In the modern media environment a poorly phrased argument or out-of-context statement can spiral out of control and reflect poorly on the Party as a whole. Thus we must emphasize during candidate trainings, retreats, etc., the importance of a welcoming, inclusive message in particular when discussing issues that relate directly to a minority group.
4. The RNC should hire field staff within Hispanic communities nationally to build meaningful relationships. This cannot happen every four years but needs to be a continuous effort.
5. Promote forward-looking positive policy proposals to Hispanic communities that unite voters, such as the Republican Party’s support for school choice.
6. The RNC must rebuild a nationwide database of Hispanic leaders.
7. The RNC must improve on promoting Hispanic staff and candidates within the Party. The GOP has substantial Hispanic elected officials at all levels, and we need to ensure they are being used as surrogates both in their communities and with the national media. At the staff level, the personnel should be visible and involved in senior political and budget decisions and not be limited to demographic outreach.
8. Engage the Hispanic faith-based community in our efforts.
9. The RNC must rebuild a Hispanic surrogate list to promote a high-level presence in both Hispanic and mainstream media.
10. Establish swearing-in citizenship teams to introduce new citizens after naturalization ceremonies to the Republican Party.
11. Consider how to help demographic ally groups flourish and sustain traditional partners under auspices of the RNC.
12. The RNC should encourage individuals to participate in cultural organizations so that these organizations’ leadership is no longer dominated by Democrat-leaning individuals.
13. The RNC must invest financial resources in Hispanic media. In a $1 billion campaign, much less than 1 percent of the total budget was spent on Hispanic or other demographic group oriented media. At one point during the 2012 campaign, OFA was outspending us 8 to 1 in these media markets. If we are going to attract these groups to our Party and candidates, our budgets, and expenses need to reflect this importance.
14. Develop an extensive network of Hispanic and other demographic groups’ political operatives that can help provide continuity for Republican political candidates around the country.
15. The RNC and State Parties should make every effort to feature and use diverse committee members.
Asian and Pacific Islander Americans
1. The RNC should hire APA communications directors and political directors for key states and communities across the country.
2. The RNC must substantively engage with the APA community throughout the year. Inclusion efforts can no longer be lip service, but need to be an organized effort within the community.
3. The Republican Party is one of tolerance and respect, and we need to ensure that the tone of our message is always reflective of these core principles. In the modern media environment, a poorly phrased argument or out-of-context statement can spiral out of control and reflect poorly on the Party as a whole. Thus we must emphasize during candidate trainings, retreats, etc., the importance of a welcoming, inclusive message in particular when discussing issues that relate directly to a minority group. This includes flexibility for allowing candidates to run as Republicans who may break with the Party on certain issues, whether economic or social.
4. Hire field staff within APA communities nationally to build meaningful relationships. This cannot happen every four years but needs to be a year-round effort.
5. Promote forward-looking, positive policy proposals to APA communities that unite voters, such as the Republican Party’s support for policies promoting economic growth.
6. The RNC should develop a nationwide database of APA leaders.
7. The RNC must improve on promoting APA staff and candidates within the Party. The GOP should utilize APA elected officials as surrogates both in their communities and with the national media. At the staff level, the personnel should be visible and involved in senior political and budget decisions and not be limited to demographic outreach.
8. The RNC must develop a national APA surrogate list to promote a high-level presence in Asian American media.
9. Establish swearing-in citizenship teams to introduce new citizens after naturalization ceremonies to the Republican Party.
10. The RNC and State Parties should make every effort to feature and use diverse committee
members.
African Americans
1. The RNC should hire African American communications directors and political directors for key states and communities across the country.
2. The RNC should work with the RSLC to develop best practices of Republicans who were successfully elected in districts with a high population of African American voters.
3. Establish a presence in African American communities and at black organizations such as the NAACP. We are never going to win over voters who are not asked for their support. Too many African American voters have gotten in the habit of supporting Democrats without hearing anyone in their
community making a case to the contrary.
4. The RNC should create a program that is focused on recruiting and supporting African American Republican candidates for office.
5. Engage historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) with the goal of educating the community on Republican ideals and the Party’s history.
6. The RNC should conduct a pilot project in several targeted urban markets to identify potential target groups of voters and to enlist support from demographic partners and allies in voter contact efforts. Big-city mayoral races provide our best 2013 opportunities for these projects. The findings of these pilot projects can inform a more robust effort in the 2014 governors’ races to build coalitions and greater support in urban areas.
7. The RNC should develop a nationwide database of African American leaders.
8. The RNC must improve on promoting African American staff and candidates within the Party. The GOP should utilize African American elected officials as surrogates both in their communities and with the national media. At the staff level, the personnel should be visible and involved in senior political and budget decisions and not be limited to demographic outreach.
9. The RNC must develop a national African American surrogate list to promote a high-level presence in African American media.
10. The RNC and State Parties should make every effort to feature and use diverse committee members.
Women
1. Communicating, organizing and winning the women’s vote should be part of all activities that the RNC undertakes. 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 elections. While the Co-Chair of the RNC should continue, as has been the case, to lead the effort to create and
implement programs to connect with female voters and help female candidates, this effort should not be restricted to the Co-Chair’s office. It should be a mandate for all relevant departments in the building.
2. The RNC should implement training programs for messaging, communications and recruiting that address the best ways to communicate with women. According to the liberal group Center for American Progress, the No. 2 issue for female voters this election was “a candidate who will fight for them.” Our candidates, spokespeople, and staff need to use language that addresses concerns that are on women’s minds in order to let them know we are fighting for them.
3. The RNC should develop a surrogate list of women based upon areas of policy and political expertise. The media affairs team at the RNC should be focused on booking more women on TV on behalf of the party and be given metrics to ensure that we aren’t just using the same old talking heads. This list should not be limited to outstanding national surrogates such as Governors Nikki Haley and Susana Martinez, Senator Kelly Ayotte, and Congresswomen Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Marsha Blackburn (among many other excellent surrogates), but should also include mayors, county officials and state legislators.
4. Be conscious of developing a forward-leaning vision for voting Republican that appeals to women. The Republican Party needs to offer that same vision and message demonstrating that our policies, principles and vision address the concerns of female voters.
5. Republicans should develop a more aggressive response to Democrat rhetoric regarding a so-called “war on women.” In 2012, the Republican response to this attack was muddled, and too often the attack went undefended altogether. We need to actively combat this, better prepare our
surrogates, and not stand idly by while the Democrats pigeonhole us using false attacks. There are plenty of liberal policies that negatively impact women, and it is incumbent upon the party to expose those and relentlessly attack Democrats using that framework.
6. Republicans need to talk about people and families, not just numbers and statistics. Female voters want to hear the facts; many of them run the economies of their homes and understand economics better than the men in their families. But they are also the caregivers for their families. Women need to hear what our motive is — why it is that we want to create a better future for our families and how our policies will affect the lives of their loved ones. Those are things that cannot be communicated well in graphs and charts — and we need to do a better job communicating why our policies are better, while using female spokespeople to do it.
7. The Republican Party committees need to understand that women need to be asked to run. Women are less likely to run for office on their own, and we should be encouraging and championing their desire to seek elective office. Additionally, the Republican Party must recognize the unique challenges that female candidates face when running for office, as well as the unique opportunities female candidates provide in winning elections. The Party should provide training programs for potential female candidates that include fundraising guidance, digital strategy, etc.
8. Republicans need to make a better effort at listening to female voters, directing their policy proposals at what they learn from women, and communicating that they understand what a woman who is balancing many responsibilities is going through. Too often, female voters feel like no one
listens to them. They feel like they are smart, engaged and strong decision makers but that their opinions are often ignored. Many female voters feel that Washington, D.C., is a city full of politicians that simply don’t listen and don’t understand what their daily lives are like. Female candidates are far better at connecting with these voters because they are more likely to understand them.
9. The RNC should reevaluate the committee member process to help incentivize more women in leadership roles rather than solely in the “committeewoman” slot.
10. The RNC should use Women’s History Month as an opportunity to remind voters of the Republican’s Party historical role in advancing the women’s rights movement.
Youth
1. Promote forward-looking, positive policy proposals that unite young voters, such as the Republican Party’s education policies.
2. Empower an RNC youth liaison to work closely with the College Republicans, Young Republicans and Teenage Republicans.
3. The RNC should host quarterly discussions on youth issues with Chairman Priebus, a leading GOP youth surrogate or elected official and young voters.
4. Encourage young candidates to run for office by preparing them with training and support.
5. All digital and data efforts should have the young voter as one of our key targeted end users in all our products in development.
6. Establish an RNC Celebrity Task Force of personalities in the entertainment industry to host events for the RNC and allow donors to participate in entertainment events as a way to attract younger voters.
7. Empower young, creative people to have a seat at the table on all digital issues.
8. The RNC should develop an “Under-30” list of surrogates and actively book young surrogates.
9. The RNC and state parties should re-engage with college campuses, including hosting events on college campuses.
10. Republican leaders should participate in and actively prepare for interviews with The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, MTV, and magazines such as People, UsWeekly, etc., as well as radio stations that are popular with the youth demographic.
11. Develop a youth advisory committee at the RNC to help define the rebranding efforts of the Party.
12. The RNC, state parties and candidates should establish college media lists and regularly pitch surrogates and elected officials.
13. Republican candidates should advertise in college newspapers.
14. The RNC and State Parties should make every effort to feature and use diverse committee members.
