How The 2012 Election Was Won

Republicans using GOP Data Center, the RNC's centralized voter database, logged about 80.5 million voter contacts during the 2012 election, mostly in battleground states. That includes 14.5 million door-knocks in battleground states and another 900,000 in highly competitive races outside of the presidential battleground, according to Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer.

The numbers confirm what Republicans already know: They were whalloped in 2012. In the Obama campaign's "Legacy Report," campaign officials claim volunteers contacted voters nearly twice as much as their Republican counterparts did — about 150 million times. (That number includes volunteer recruitment and voter turnout attempts.)

As Republicans lay their plans for 2016 and beyond, top consultants and operatives are reaching four key conclusions about how they misused or underdeveloped their technology and data infrastructure.READ MORE