COLUMBIA, S.C. — Paul Ryan talked about the ills of the criminal-justice system. He quizzed GOP presidential hopefuls at a forum here about what they’ve done to help the impoverished and vowed that Republicans, if they put their minds to it, could “make breakthroughs” in the war on poverty.

This is what Ryan wants his Republican Party to look like. But it bears little resemblance to the one on display in the presidential primary, a battle that some senior Republicans say has gotten so coarse that it’s putting their congressional majorities at risk.


So as Ryan tries to reassert the party’s substantive side with a series of policy rollouts in the coming months — a conservative replacement to Obamacare, tax reform, a criminal justice bill — he’s also looking to give the House GOP its own identity. The speaker’s effort could also provide his 246 members a layer of insulation from the mess playing out on the national stage.

With the presidential candidates sparring over whether to bar Muslims from the United States and discussing the merits of spanking children, top House leadership aides say Ryan is trying to give his party something to run on. There’s almost no chance the GOP will lose the House, but significant double-digit losses are possible if the top of the GOP ticket flounders.

In an interview hours after the Kemp Foundation poverty summit held in Columbia with several 2016 contenders over the weekend, Ryan told Politico he wants the Republican Party to be “an agenda party, a solutions party, an ideas party, so that we make our case, not based on personality, but based on ideas to the country. Because that’s the kind of election we want to win.

“I want our party to be the party of opportunity, upward mobility and the party with better ideas for fighting poverty,” he continued. And “since I want our party to be that, it goes without saying I want the House Republicans to do that, as well.”

Ryan said in the interview he believes the GOP will craft a criminal justice reform plan in the next six months, a major development in the party’s agenda. He said he has spoken with Virginia Democratic Rep. Bobby Scott, House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho), a key figure in the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

Congressional Republicans will meet for a three-day retreat starting Wednesday in Baltimore to begin crafting their 2016 agenda. They know they have to move fast, before the presidential campaign drowns out everything else.

“The silly season is going to kick in pretty fast,” Ryan said of the campaign for the White House. “I think criminal justice reform is probably the biggest [issue] we can make a difference on. … There’s a real way forward on that.”

Ryan has been hesitant to say too much about his plans for the party, wary of looking like a dictator when he’s promised his conference a more bottom-up leadership style.

But as Ryan spoke with Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee, Marco Rubio and John Kasich — Donald Trump and Ted Cruz didn’t attend — it wasn’t hard to discern what the speaker has in mind.

He talked up education reform. He described what he called the “poverty-industrial complex” and how Republicans might break it up. And he spoke of the need for the GOP to change its defensive mind-set.

“If we don’t have a vibrant, inclusive, inspiring, exciting majority … the Republican Party, we will not be able to fix these problems,” Ryan said at one point during the forum, which he hosted with Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.). “We are not just an opposition party, we are a proposition party.”

Ryan’s focus on poverty is, in part, the result of a multiyear nationwide tour through rough neighborhoods and nonprofit centers. And in Washington, Ryan has quietly worked with his colleagues to set up similar trips. He said Reps. Bob Dold of Illinois, Susan Brooks of Indiana and Brad Wenstrup of Ohio have all spent time on their own tours.

“Don’t do it with press,” Ryan said, echoing the message he gave to his colleagues. “It’s not a press thing, it’s a learning thing. … It’s about hooking up with these groups and taking those lessons and applying them to public policy.”

Ryan says his vision — the one he articulated here — could pay political dividends for the party.

“I think, first of all, that’s how you win an election, and that’s the kind of election you want to win, so you are given a mandate to get it done, and get these things fixed for the country,” he said. “It’s also good politics, but most importantly, it makes a big difference in the country in people’s lives. That’s why you do it. Political consultants and professionals say play it safe and attack the other guy. I just don’t think that’s right, nor does it work.”

Of course, Ryan faces an uphill battle for his ideas to become law. He has to wage his own internal party battles, and President Barack Obama might not have the same ideas that he does when it comes to lifting people out of poverty.

“I think it’s really smart,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). “If you have a majority, you should use it wisely, but at the end of the day there are some problems that are going to require bipartisanship,” such as attacking poverty and reducing the debt.

“I just don’t think one party is going to solve the problem,” added Graham, who dropped out of the presidential race last month. “But saying what you would do — ‘Here’s what I would do to deal with job creation’ — is a good thing.”

Anna Palmer contributed to this report.