The GOP's rebranding: Can Republicans take the Senate in 2014?

The party's big autopsy report concluded with recommendations for the 2016 presidential race, but the midterms are right around the corner

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus discusses the GOP strategy on March 18.
(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The GOP has conducted an "autopsy" of its 2012 election failures, and come up with a comeback plan. One thing Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus wants to do is to shorten the party's primary process, so that the next Republican presidential nominee doesn't have to take an extended pounding like the one that weakened Mitt Romney before last year's general election campaign. But the GOP has a more immediate test looming — the 2014 midterms, when Republicans can regain control of the Senate if they pick up six seats. Can the party turn the tables that fast?

The report's technical recommendations certainly could have an "immediate effect on 2014," says Joshua Miller at Roll Call. "For many GOP campaigns in 2012, polling proved to be an Achilles' heel," with inaccurate late surveys causing some candidates to squander resources in the final days before election day. The report suggests taking a look at errors 2012 pollsters made in determining who would and would not be a likely voter. By making changes, such as requiring Republican polls to include a minimum number of voters who only use cell phones, will give GOP candidates a better picture of the public mood, which will help their campaigns craft their messages more effectively.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.