LAS VEGAS – A proctological exam.

That is what Haley Barbour said the Republican Party should undergo after losing the race for the White House and allowing a chance to control the Senate slip away.

“We’ve got to give our political organization a very serious proctology exam,” Mr. Barbour said Wednesday. “We need to look everywhere.”

The blunt assessment from Mr. Barbour, one of the party’s most influential elders, was delivered here during the fall meeting of the Republican Governors Association. He called for a top-to-bottom review of the party’s ground game, which he said was outmaneuvered by the organization built by President Obama’s campaign.

“We have to look at everything in depth,” Mr. Barbour said, “and be brutally honest.”

A week after Mitt Romney fell short in his bid for the White House, Republican leaders offered tepid praise of his candidacy. But they quickly moved on and called for a new approach to the party’s rebuilding efforts.

Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin said Republicans needed to adopt a new “tone.”

Gov. Robert F. McDonnell of Virginia said Democrats had consistently done “a better job explaining” their economic argument.

Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana said, “We need to modernize our party.”



As Republicans arrived here on Wednesday for a two-day gathering, the party celebrated its achievement of controlling 30 governors’ offices across the country. But they spent more time lamenting their failure to win the White House and a majority of Senate seats.

A fresh batch of comments from Mr. Romney quickly became the topic of conversation here on Wednesday afternoon, after it was reported that Mr. Romney told members of his national finance committee in a conference call that Mr. Obama had followed the “old playbook” of wooing particular interest groups. On the call, Mr. Romney expanded on his remark and said that the administration was “very generous in what they gave to those groups” – “especially the African-American community, the Hispanic community and young people.”

As he spoke to reporters here, Mr. Jindal reacted sharply to Mr. Romney’s remarks.

“I absolutely reject that notion. I don’t think that represents where we are as a party,” Mr. Jindal said. He added, “We have got to stop dividing the American voters.”