RNC 2014 Winter Meeting "Building to Victory"  ...next >
Members before the start of the general session.
Chairman Reince Priebus talked about the transformation at the RNC in the past year.  "Now, one year ago we came together and said we were going to do things differently at the RNC," Priebus said. "We set out to build a permanent ground campaign, to close the digital divide, and to engage with voters of all backgrounds."  Priebus also noted, "[W]e easily outraised the DNC in 2013. And not only that, we ended the year debt free." [transcript]
RNC Vice Chairman Susan Day.
Members of the RNC from California follow the proceeding (left to right: National Committeeman Shawn Steel, state chair Jim Brulte, and National Committeewoman Linda Ackerman).
RNC General Counsel John Ryder presents his report.

Other speakers in the general session noted that the RNC now has 134 paid staff out in the field in 35 states.  Chief of staff Mike Shields said, "We're going to spend our money now to win."  Following the report of the Resolutions committee, the RNC members overwhelmingly approved 11 resolutions (two memorial and nine policy).  Next the RNC members considered the rules changes.  This required a 75-percent vote (124 members or proxies of 165).
[Rule 12 allows Rule 1-11 and 13-25 to be amended by a majority vote of the RNC Standing Committee on Rules (“Rules Committee”) and a seventy-five percent (75%) affirmative vote by the members of the RNC].
Bruce Ash, chairman of the Rules Committee, reads his report.
Morton Blackwell, RNC Committeeman for Virginia, makes another attempt to stop the rules changes.
The full Republican National Committee approves the rules changes by a vote of 153 to 9.  Chairman Priebus said, "It's a historic day for our party."  No longer would the GOP presidential candidates "slice and dice for six months" and "participate in a circus of debates," Priebus said.  "We will all have a much better process come in 2016," he said.
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