Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus countered Sen. Bob Dole’s recent criticisms of the GOP on “Fox News Sunday,” offering the asurance that the party is “open for repairs.”
Last week Dole, the 1996 Republican presidential nominee, appeared on the same program and argued that conservatives like Ronald Reagan or Richard Nixon “wouldn’t have made it” in the GOP of 2013 because they “had ideas.”
“I think they ought to put a sign on the national committee doors,” Dole said of the Republican Party, “that says closed for repairs until New Year’s Day next year and spend that time going over ideas and positive agendas.”
Priebus highlighted the RNC’s self-audit in the wake of the 2012 presidential election and pointed to the last two Republican presidential nominees, Mitt Romney and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), as “a good counter position to what Sen. Dole had to say.”
“I would say we’re not closed for repairs, but open for repairs,” he said. “That’s the Republican Party that needs to grow, that needs to win presidential elections, and needs to be a year-round permanent operation, which is what we’re built on.”
