Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney sought to pass the torch of leadership in the GOP to a new generation of conservatives in his first major public speech since losing last year's election. 

Romney, the failed candidate who challenged President Barack Obama in 2012, heralded a handful of Republican governors and his former running mate — Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan — as the next generation of GOP leadership. And he counseled party activists gathered here at the Conservative Political Action Conference to learn from his campaign's missteps. 

"It is up to us to make sure that we learn from my mistakes, and from our mistakes, so that we can win the victories those people and this nation depend upon," Romney told a warmly supportive CPAC crowd.

"It’s fashionable in some circles to be pessimistic about America, about conservative solutions, about the Republican Party," he added. "I utterly reject that pessimism. We may not have carried the day last Nov. 7, but we haven’t lost the country we love, and we haven't lost our way."

The former Massachusetts governor has kept a deliberately low profile following his lopsided loss versus Obama last November.

Following a campaign in which he was caricatured as out of touch — an image reinforced by his comments about "47 percent" of Americans depending upon government — many Republicans have quickly looked past Romney, who seemed at risk of becoming relegated to footnote status within the GOP.

But Romney used his speech to pledge to remain involved in Republican politics. 

"I am sorry that I will not be your president – but I will be your co-worker and I will stand shoulder to shoulder alongside you," he said. "In the end, we will win just as we have won before, and for the same reason: because our cause is just and it is right."

And Romney singled out a handful of Republicans in his speech who could become that next generation of winners.

He hailed South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (who introduced him), and Republican Govs. Rick Snyder (Mich.), Nathan Deal (Ga.), Scott Walker (Wis.), Susana Martinez (N.M.) and Brian Sandoval (Nev.), along with two governors who weren't invited to CPAC because of perceived apostasies against conservatism: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.

Romney made few references, aside from Ryan, to leaders in Congress. Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Rand Paul, R-Ky., or Ted Cruz, R-Texas, did not earn a shout-out from the former GOP nominee.

CPAC has been an important gathering for Romney in the past. He twice won its influential straw poll, and ended his first bid for the Republican nomination at 2008's gathering. Romney called himself a "severely conservative" governor during his speech at CPAC in 2012, a description which Democrats turned against him in the general election.

Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

Former Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney acknowledges supporters as he speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference at National Harbor, Md., March 15, 2013.

Before this gathering of Republican stalwarts, Romney also weighed in on the looming question before the GOP, about whether it should moderate in some respects, or continue to hew to its conservative ideology. 

He argued that a "conservative vision can attract a majority of Americans and form a governing coalition of renewal and reform."

It's unclear whether or when the public might expect to hear from again from Romney, who recently joined the executive committee of one of his sons' investment companies. But he struck a wistful note upon reflecting about his failed campaign.

"Thank you again for your help and support along our journey," he said. "Ann and I will treasure these memories all the days of our lives."

This story was originally published on Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:59 PM EDT

Paul Ryan — the GOP's 2012 vice presidential nominee — declined to weigh in on the direction of his party during a speech Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference and focused his remarks instead on the budget he authored this week

The Wisconsin congressman, who chairs the House Budget Committee, focused his remarks at CPAC almost exclusively on the budget he produced on Tuesday, the third he has written as chairman of the panel.

Ryan's budgets helped build his notoriety among conservatives, and propelled him to the spot as Mitt Romney's running mate last fall. But amid Republican soul-searching about the party's path forward, Ryan stuck to remarks about his budget — a series of proposals that are already generally popular among conservatives.

"This has been a really big week. We got white smoke from the Vatican, and we got a budget from the Senate," he joked. "But when you read it, you find the Vatican's not the only place blowing smoke this week."

Ryan's just one of several speakers thought to be possible contenders for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Among others, Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., both spoke yesterday.

Those two senators concentrated their remarks mostly on the direction of the GOP, and why — or why not — the party is in need of reinvention.

Carolyn Kaster / AP

House Budget Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., speaks about the 2014 Budget Resolution during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 12, 2013.

Ryan's remarks were mostly a rehash of his press conferences and media appearances in support of his budget.

"Today, I want to make the case for balance," he said. "That case, in a nutshell, is that a balanced budget will create a healthier economy."

The man whom Ryan hoped would become president this year, Mitt Romney, will address CPAC later this afternoon.

This story was originally published on Fri Mar 15, 2013 10:11 AM EDT

American Conservative Union chairman Al Cardenas spoke briefly with reporters ahead of the beginning of the CPAC conference -- explaining why he didn't invite New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and insisting that the GOP is "not a home for everybody."

As the conference opens, the GOP's identity crisis -- expand the tent, or try to convince more people to crowd under what's already built -- is on sharp display.

"I'm a firm believer that if the Republican Party's going to have success, it's going to do so by being a conservative party and not a home for ah, for everybody," Cardenas said. "And that's how you grow. I mean, look, you grow your tent by convincing others, and persuading others, that yours is the way, and you build your tent by reaching out to the new demographics of America not with a watered down version of who we ought to be but with a true, real, solid version of who we are."

Cardenas also repeated explanations for why the conference hadn't invited New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to speak at the event.

"This year, for better or for worse, we felt like, ah, like he didn't deserve to be on the all-star selection, ah, and, for decisions that he made. And so hopefully next year he's back on the right track and being a conservative," Cardenas said. "He's a popular figure, but everyone needs to live by the parameters of the movement."

Also not invited was Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who recently signed a transportation bill that included new taxes.

Cardenas approached McDonnell differently, however, saying the conference only had room for one Virginian -- attorney general Ken Cuccinelli, who's running for governor. Cardenas called him the "future" of the GOP in Virginia.

The Republican Party’s internal struggle over how to expand its reach will play out in stark relief at this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference, with activists locked in a near-civil war over the basic question of who should be part of the movement – and who should not.

This year’s meeting has already made news with its exclusion of notable names from the invite list: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell. 

There will be plenty of conservative stars, like Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky, along with 2012 vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan (among other potential 2016 presidential candidates). And attendees will have a chance to reacquaint themselves with familiar names and faces from the not-so-distant past such as Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin and the ubiquitous Donald Trump.

But the annual conservative confab comes at a serious and crucial moment for the Republican Party: Its last two presidential nominees lost decisively to President Barack Obama, and its lone instrument of power -- the GOP majority in the House -- has been constantly plagued by infighting between conservative insurgents and its establishment-minded leadership.

And the American right seems as divided as ever over the path forward.

“I think, increasingly, we as Republicans have come across as intolerant and unfocused on the needs of the underserved,” said Fred Malek, a fixture of GOP politics for decades.

“And we need to speak much more to the aspirational needs of people, and not speak about the dependence of the ‘47 percent,’” he added, referencing 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney’s infamous comments, “but rather how the ‘47 percent’ become part of the 25 percent or 10 percent or 1 percent.”

Ideological fealty to marginalize GOP?
That internal struggle threatens to spill into the open at CPAC, a gathering that has been established as an important gathering for official Republicans, yet still attracts the kind of stalwart conservative activists who have helped to ignite this GOP family feud. 

“I thought it was a mistake to exclude Christie,” said Vin Weber, a former Republican congressman who remains active in the party’s political leadership. “It reinforces this narrow, closed stereotype of Republicans.”

Christie angered conservatives by agreeing to implement insurance exchanges under Obama’s health care reform law, and for praising the president’s handling of Hurricane Sandy just days before the election. McDonnell upset conservatives with his new transportation law, which includes some new taxes.

“I would argue that they do not have too much to offer up in terms of the future of the conservative movement,” Jeff Bell, of the American Principles Project, said of the two governors.

Those warring views cut to the heart of the modern GOP’s internal rift. On one side are conservatives who are eager to excommunicate Republicans who commit the slightest act of ideological heresy. The other faction is composed of Republicans who worry that the party’s insistence on ideological fealty will continue to marginalize the GOP amid a changing electorate.

Though no immediate resolution is in sight, the Republican National Committee will weigh in following its own autopsy of the party’s shortcomings during last fall’s elections. It will recommend improved digital operations and a more robust outreach, but is also expected to emphasize the need for some candidates to speak in less shrill terms about sensitive issues.

“We can’t run the same campaigns. For some, it means that boneheaded comments about rape and women – that’s just not going to fly,” said a source familiar with the report, referencing GOP Senate candidates in Indiana and Missouri who lost winnable races last fall due to their controversial comments about rape.

Romney's first remarks since election
The forthcoming RNC report and this week’s CPAC gathering add up to a potentially pivotal week for the future of the party.

Jonathan Ernst / Reuters file photo

Sen. Marco Rubio addresses the American Conservative Union's annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, February 9, 2012.

And though McDonnell and Christie were excluded from the gathering, other corners of the GOP will be well-represented. Tea Party darlings like Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, will each speak.

Also on display will be conservatives who may hope to unify the GOP as the party’s presidential nominee in 2016. Along with Rubio, Paul and Ryan, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will also address attendees.

The influential conference concludes with an oft-hyped, closely watched straw poll of attendees’ preference in a presidential nominee.

A past winner of two such straw polls, Romney, will make his first public speech since the election on Friday. And former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, whose national star power has waxed and waned in the scope of a single presidential election cycle, will speak on Saturday.

“There’s going to be a lot of heat, but not much light,” on the presidential front said Craig Shirley, a Reagan biographer and conservative PR guru. “It’s not going to resolve itself until the first stirrings of the 2014 midterm elections.”

Related:

On eve of CPAC, GOP searches for identity, policy principles

Obama's meeting with GOP: Cordial, but no consensus

This story was originally published on Thu Mar 14, 2013 4:31 AM EDT

When House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan was asked why his latest budget repeals the 2010 federal health-care -- despite the results of last year's presidential election -- the former Republican vice-presidential running mate gave this answer.

"So just because the election didn't go our way," he told National Review," that means we're supposed to change our principles?"

But on the eve of the three-day Conference Political Action Conference (CPAC) that begins on Thursday in the DC area and that will hear from countless Republican politicians, Ryan's answer raises this follow-up question:

What principles -- beyond opposing President Obama's agenda?

Is the GOP a free-market party, or one that's willing to federally bail out the banks if the country is on the brink of another Great Depression?

Is it a party that believes in strong national defense, or is it willing to wage a nearly 13-hour filibuster to highlight how drones could infringe on civil liberties?

Is the GOP a party that stresses deficit reduction and balanced budgets above all else, or is it one willing to support unpaid-for wars and unpaid-for new entitlements?

Is it a party that favors comprehensive immigration reform, or that opposes it?

Does the GOP oppose tax increases, or will it vote for raising rates on the wealthiest Americans?

And is it a party that opposes gay marriage, or one that's becoming more accepting of it?

Yes, the GOP believes in lower taxes and less government. But as Politico's Jonathan Martin and Maggie Haberman write, many of the tensions above will be on display at CPAC as the party -- after its second-straight presidential loss -- finds itself in the midst of an "identity crisis."

"The pillars of the conservative era ushered in by Reagan — a muscular defense, traditional cultural values and devotion to free markets – are being questioned by leading Republicans, and what could take the place of the Gipper’s trinity is now being openly debated in a fashion more reminiscent of the famously fractious Democrats of yore."

Ryan, who speaks at CPAC on Friday, embodies many of these very tensions. He warns of deficits and debt, but supported the Iraq war, the Bush tax cuts, and the Medicare prescription-drug benefit. He believes in the free market, but voted for the Troubled Assets Relief Program (or TARP). And he now supports comprehensive immigration reform (and maybe even a path to citizenship), but was on a presidential ticket opposing it.

Of course, it's only natural for a party outside the White House to experience an identity crisis. After all, there's no one true leader to unify the different constituencies. And the one unifying force is opposing the president in power -- and that's true whether a Democrat or Republican sits in the Oval Office.

Indeed, after their second-straight presidential loss in 2004, Democrats faced a similar identity crisis. Should it strenuously oppose the Iraq war, or support it? Push for universal health care, or ignore it? Disagree with the Bush-era tax cuts, or call for them to expire?

Yet by the time the Democratic race for president began, the top candidates -- Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Bill Richardson -- were unified on all the big issues. They opposed the Iraq war; they supported universal health care; they were against the Bush tax cuts. That's why the Democratic primary was fought over the margins (like whether there should be a mandate for health insurance).

And for Republicans, that's the story to watch over the next couple of years. It's one thing for the party to experience an identity crisis in 2013 and 2014. It's another thing -- as Obama prepares to exit office -- to experience that in 2015 and 2016. 

Dogged by his struggles to win over conservative primary voters, Mitt Romney stressed the depth of his ideological commitment to conservatism in an address Friday to an annual gathering of party activists.

"I fought against long odds in a deep blue state, but I was a severely conservative Republican governor," Romney said in a boast to attendees of this year's Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C.

The former Massachusetts governor took pains to emphasize the most appealing parts of his record in a speech just after noon. Romney mentioned some variation of the word "conservative" 24 times (at least according to prepared remarks), and won applause for his laundry list of promises to undo President Obama's policies.

"I did things conservatism is designed for – I started new businesses and turned around broken ones. And I am not ashamed to say that I was very successful at it," Romney told activists, hitting on a biographic note that won him the first of several standing ovations in the speech. "I know conservatism because I have lived conservatism."

The address seemed carefully crafted in light of the difficulties Romney has faced in the first month and a half of the primary calendar. He lost the South Carolina primary in January thanks to conservatives' rallying behind Newt Gingrich, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum scored a series of upsets over Romney just this past Tuesday with victories in the Colorado and Minnesota caucuses and a non-binding Missouri primary.

Santorum addressed the CPAC crowd this morning, during which he touched on familiar themes, urging Republicans not to settle for a moneyed candidate or one who's perceived as electable -- a veiled shot at Romney, behind whom the GOP establishment has rallied.

RELATED: Santorum draws contrasts with GOP rivals

Gingrich, the former House speaker, is likely to voice a similar argument in remarks to CPAC later Friday.

But Romney also had his own response to his two most direct Republican challengers ready to go.

"I am the only candidate in this race, Republican or Democrat, who has never worked a day in Washington.... As conservatives, you’ve learned to be skeptical of this city and its politicians, and right you are," he said, alluding to Santorum and Gingrich's long tenures in Congress. "And let me tell you, any politician who tries to convince you that they hated Washington so much that they just couldn’t leave, well, that’s the same politician who will try to sell you a Bridge to Nowhere."

But most of Romney's speech was oriented toward selling himself to conservatives.

Romney spoke of his battles with a Democratic state legislature in Massachusetts to erase a $3 billion budget deficit, and his battles for socially conservative positions as governor.

"On my watch, we fought hard and prevented Massachusetts from becoming the Las Vegas of gay marriage," he said of his work to undercut a state Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriages.

His "severely conservative" line was ad-libbed, inserted by Romney on the spot on top of his prepared remarks, which he read from a teleprompter.

Romney also hit on a variety of pledges, not least of which was his vow to repeal Obama's health care reform law. Conservatives have met Romney with suspicion on the issue because of the similarities between the health reform law Romney signed in Massachusetts, by which he's stood, and Obama's federal health reform.

Romney also promised to govern as a "pro-life" president and stand for a strong national defense. He also promised reforms to entitlements like Medicare and Social Security, as well.

"This election is a defining moment for our generation and for the conservative movement," he said. "Make no mistake – we have an opportunity for greatness, but with that opportunity comes defining responsibility. We cannot use this election to refight past battles or reward our friends. I know that the fundamental change this moment demands will take fresh, bold conservative leadership with real-world solutions based on real-world experience."

Mitt Romney will address a yearly gathering of Republican activists in Washington, D.C., on a much different footing than he did in 2008, when he announced to attendees of the Conservative Political Action Conference that he was ending his presidential campaign.

Romney, the darling of conservatives who had looked to the former Massachusetts governor to halt Sen. John McCain's march to the nomination, was fresh off a string of Super Tuesday losses in the last presidential election cycle.

"I entered this race because I love America. And because I love America, in this time of war, I feel I have to now stand aside for our party and for our country," Romney told the conference, ending his campaign over the vocal protests of some attendees.

Four years later -- almost to the day -- Romney will address CPAC from a much different position in the GOP field.

This time, Romney will play McCain's role: the presumptive favorite for the nomination with establishment backing, who is trying to win over the GOP's conservatives, many of whom now object to the warts on his record.

What changed in the intervening four years is partly his doing, and partly out of his control.

Follow CPAC coverage at NBCPolitics.com

No doubt the biggest shift has been the national debate on health care, and conservatives strong distaste for the national health care reform law implemented by President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress.

That law was based on one Romney signed into law as governor of Massachusetts. Once seen as an asset for his campaign, the Republican base has turned against the Bay State law. As if to make matters worse, Romney chose to embrace his plan -- and its requirement that all individuals purchase insurance -- in a key May 2011 speech.  Romney has continued to defend the Massachusetts law as one that was a good solution for the state he governed at the time but unacceptable for the national plan.

Another key change has been the advent of the Tea Party, and an overarching demand by conservatives that the Republican nominee be more ideologically pure. Crossover appeal and establishment support, two central elements of Romney's appeal this cycle, are at a lower premium for primary voters than at any other point in recent political history.

DeMint at CPAC: 'We don’t have shared goals with the Democrats'

There's no better evidence of the change in the environment than the nominating contests held so far, in which Romney has at times struggled to win over the core conservative Republicans who had fueled his candidacy in 2008. He won the Minnesota caucuses in 2008 in part due to their support; without them, he fell to third place when Minnesotans caucused this past Tuesday.

Those shifts in the political environment suggest that Romney, the winner of the conference's annual straw poll from 2007-09, won’t likely receive the warm welcome he did in his 2008 speech.

He'll bring in a slightly different message this time, though. Romney's 2008 address focused on themes of social conservatism, and especially national security.

Romney's speech this time is likely to focus on the economy, in part a reflection of the tough economic climate and a core theme of the former governor's campaign. But in reaction to a recent threat from his primary foes, Romney's also more likely to articulate an anti-Washington message, stressing his time in the private sector and outside of D.C. -- in contrast to the remaining three other presidential contenders.

This year’s gathering also comes under more uncertain political terrain; just a handful of states have held their primaries or caucuses ahead of this year's edition of CPAC. By comparison, 27 states had held their nominating contests before CPAC 2008, a turning point in that campaign from which McCain carried momentum to win the nomination.

And also, two of the three surviving challengers to Romney -- former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich -- are set to speak.

In the case of Santorum, he'll be riding high following a trio of major upsets in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri this week. He may be the heir to the hero's welcome Romney received in 2008. But unlike that year, Santorum won't be using the speech to exit from the campaign. He'll be using it as a springboard to primaries later this month, and Super Tuesday a week afterward.

Gingrich has also launched broadsides against Romney from the right flank, giving the ex-speaker a major platform to voice those criticisms when he speaks on Friday. (Gingrich is the last of the three Republican candidates to speak on Friday. Paul is not on the agenda, though his son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, is slated to address the conference.)

Conservative Sen. Jim DeMint stressed an unyielding agenda for Republicans during an opening speech Thursday at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

DeMint, a South Carolina senator and conservative icon, cast aspersions toward the notions of compromising with Democrats during a time in which political strife has dominated Capitol Hill.

"We don’t have shared goals with the Democrats. The democrats can’t cut spending. Their whole platform is based on promising more from government," DeMint told activists gathered in Washington, D.C.

"Every time we compromise with Democrats, we spend more, we borrow more, we grow government," he said.

DeMint skewered the Obama administration in his speech, the first address as part of the three-day summit.

DeMint dealt mainly in broad strokes, outlining a “decentralized” approach to health care and transportation, DeMint argued for familiar themes to conservatives, including state’s rights and budget prudence.

One hot topic that came up – the Keystone pipeline, which DeMint said would ensure tens of thousands of jobs.

“Who could say no?  Folks, we’re not talking about complicated political philosophy here,” he said.