GOP searches for new path forward

>> after stinging losses in 2012 . republicans are plotting the comeback plan.

>> we have to stay united. we have to show that if given the chance, we can govern. that we have better ideas.

>> we have got to stop being the stupid party. we can stand by our timeless principals and articulate them in ways that are modern and that i believe is how we will achieve republican renewal.

>> joined now by nrc deputy communications director tim miller . good to see you on this saturday. one way that your boss said that the republicans can make gains is by waging a permanent campaign . can't voters get sick of that fast?

>> what we have to do is compete with what obama and the democrats are doing. if you look back at the election, president obama began running as soon as he was elected in 2008 . and mitt romney 's campaign was six months long. from getting into communities and organizing and listening to voters and hearing their concerns, the obama campaign had more time and allowed them to do a better job. so, going forward that is something that we need to do and make sure that we are living in communities and talking about the republican party and the brand. not just in the two months before an election but all of the time.

>> tim, here is the thing, that is strategy talk and we have heard talk about messaging as well. but what about the messengers. what about the actually people who are going to be putting out the beliefs of the republican party ? has there been talk about changing those?

>> the republicans have a deep bench, look at marco ruio, bobby jindal . we have a lot of young leaders that have been successful on the state level and we need to look to the states and learn from them. we have 30 republican governors if we won the electoral vote in all 30 states we would have won by a land slide that, is because these governors are putting forward reform policies. things that voters are seeing helping them in their states we need to translate it to the national level so we can be successful in presidential elections in 2016 .

>> let's talk about the charlotte meeting that you attended. there was a talk about strategy, has there been talk about limiting the calendar as well. and limiting the number of gop presidential debates ?

>> there has been talk about that. we have a number of republicans, some grassroots leaders and leaders in washington who are looking at all of the lessons from this past election to see what we can learn. you know, i think one of the things you can look at is we had a whole lot of debates last time, 21 of them in the presidential campaign .

>> they did make for great television, tim.

>> it was great television and you do not want to minimize them too much, you want the voters to hear from the candidates, but maybe we can find a way to structure it better so it's better for the candidates and voters and everybody. instead of getting into this free for all that we saw this past time. so that is one idea and we will look at a whole bunch of other guys as we move forward.

>> i want to call your attention to one more thing before you go. this new website, grassroots ideas about how to fix the party's image, folks can go to the website and take a survey. there's a video there. what has been the response to the survey so far?

>> we had a great response, we sent it out on thursday, as of yesterday, we had over 25,000 people throughout the country who have gone to the website, gop.com, filled out the survey. for the growth and opportunity project, so we can hear from folks. a lot of times, political consultants like me, spend too much time listening to folks in washington and not listening to the folks in the country. and hearing from them and getting from them what the republican party can do to be more successful. that is what the survey process will do.

>> tim miller , the rnc, thank you, and appreciate your time on this saturday, sir.