2. Context is critical and Republicans had a context hangover

Conventional wisdom said the overall context of the 2012 election was unfavorable to Obama. Polls showed large majorities of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track, always a difficult environment for an incumbent. The economy was the biggest issue and the economy is creeping along with unemployment stubbornly high, higher than it was when the president took office. The problem is that exit polls showed more than half (53 percent) of Americans blame that economy not on Obama, but on his predecessor, President George W. Bush.

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That’s because Republicans never made the case that the financial crash was not the result of Bush — and by implication, Republican policies. It happened during the final months of Bush’s presidency, but had its roots in the crisis in the housing market. Both parties bear some of the blame, but it was Democrats who aggressively backed policies giving home loans to people who had little chance of repaying them.

Obama spent much of his first term blaming Bush for the “mess we inherited.” It wasn’t true, but with Bush out of office, Republicans never effectively challenged it. And now we’re stuck with the erroneous but lingering impression among more than half of our fellow Americans that it was our party’s policies that caused it.

3. Tone and message matter

Finally, the Republican Party has to set a tone that is more respectful, positive and inclusive. The immigration rhetoric that came out of the Republican primary seemed harsh, unwelcoming and offputting to many minority voters. Obama increased his share of the Hispanic vote and won it 69 percent to 29 percent (per The New York Times exit poll); likewise he built a huge margin among Asian voters, 74-25, almost doubling the margin of his support compared to 2008. Both of those constituencies are hardworking, upwardly mobile, family-oriented, and should be open to Republican appeals if we don’t make them feel unwelcome.

And if another Republican man says anything about rape other than it is a horrific, violent crime, I want to personally cut out his tongue. The college-age daughters of many of my friends voted for Obama because they were completely turned off by Neanderthal comments like the suggestion of “legitimate rape.”

We have to explain our conservative philosophy in a forward-looking way that appeals to the diverse constituencies that make up our country. And we need to make a special effort to listen to and better understand what resonates with younger voters.

I hope my fellow Republicans don’t take the wrong lessons from this campaign. Romney did not lose because he was not conservative enough. He lost because of communications mistakes that our party must correct if we are to earn the country’s confidence and elect a Republican president next time.

Karen Hughes is Worldwide vice chair of Burson-Marsteller. She previously served as counselor to the president in the administration of President George W. Bush and was undersecretary of State for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy.