Quote:That advice was simple: If you want to elect a Republican president, stop alienating minorities, women, young people and swing voters. But old habits die hard.

The textbook for that advice is a report commissioned by the Republican National Committee after the 2012 elections. Called the Growth & Opportunity Project (get it, GOP), it is a surprisingly blunt post-mortem and prescription.

“We are losing in too many places,” the report says. “Public perception of the Party is at record lows. Young voters are increasingly rolling their eyes at what the Party represents, and many minorities wrongly think that Republicans do not like them or want them in the country.”