"I think that the carve-out states have served us well, but I think the timing of the calendar and the rest of the calendar issue should be looked at," he said.

Priebus rejected the notion of the RNC becoming involved in presidential primaries to assist the strongest candidate, but he was quick to point out that state Republican parties can choose to play in primaries if they want.

"State parties can decide for themselves," he said. "It's their choice."

In terms of outreach to minorities, Priebus said the GOP failed to pass a very basic test.

"Well, for one thing, we have to ask for the vote," he said. "You have to ask for it and I don't think that we've been doing a very good job of that."

Priebus said a glaring organizational flaw for Republicans is that there have been no long-term investments made in human capital to help sell the GOP message on a neighborhood to neighborhood level.

It's more than just having an outreach director in a state -- it's having dedicated, full-time staffers on a grass-roots level to run "voter registration, hold community events, go to swearing-in ceremonies ... having real job descriptions for lots and lots of people on a yearlong basis in communities that move the dial."

The party's standing among Hispanics emerged as a damaging sore spot last year for national Republicans, who were forced to answer for hard-line immigration positions from prominent conservative figures, including their own presidential nominee.

Obama won with 71 percent of the Hispanic vote, according to CNN exit polls.

Outreach to Hispanics has already begun, Priebus says

"I think you are seeing a lot of movement from our party on these issues," said Priebus, who said outreach has already begun. "A lot of it, I tell you, was tone. You know, it wasn't necessarily the policy on immigration, it was what is coming out of your mouth."

He specifically mentioned a comment by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who suggested illegal immigrants might "self-deport" and leave the country willingly.

"When you talk about stuff of self-deportation, it is probably not the best place to start," Priebus said.

Still, Priebus said he believes that Republicans, not Democrats, better represent the ideals and goals of all voters, including minorities who turned out in droves to re-elect the president.

Priebus plans to explain his vision for the overhaul of his party in more detail to the 168 RNC members who arrive in Charlotte, North Carolina, this week for a three-day meeting that will focus almost entirely on this subject.

Five Republican heavyweights -- Henry Barbour, Sally Bradshaw, Ari Fleischer, Zori Fonalledas and Glenn McCall -- are helping Priebus craft the recovery plan, dubbed "The Growth and Opportunity Project."

Just as Obama asked Democrats to nominate him as their presidential nominee in Charlotte in September, Priebus will ask RNC members on Friday to elect him to another two-year term.

It will be more of a formality than an election, because Priebus has only token opposition and has locked down enough support to maintain his role as chairman.

"Both the grass-roots and the donors have to be on the same page, and I think I am in a unique position to do that," he said.

Priebus is in a unique position because of his financial stewardship of the national committee, which two years ago was saddled with nearly $25 million in debt after the departure of controversial former RNC chairman Michael Steele.

"Our money situation here was so bad that both credit cards were suspended when I walked in the door," he said. "So when we went to go book travel or anything like that, we didn't have a credit card to put the travel on. Fortunately, we had my two credit cards, so we maxed out both of those cards."

Priebus estimated he spent $40,000 to $50,000 on his personal credit cards, which he was eventually reimbursed.

Dialing for dollars became Priebus' priority, a tough task for a depressed donor base that saw super PACs and the congressional campaign committees as viable alternatives to the poorly managed RNC.

When he started as chairman, Priebus said there were fewer than 100 major RNC donors, people who contributed more than $15,000 per year. By the close of his first year, he said 1,000 people were donating $30,000-plus each year.

Paperwork filed with the Federal Election Commission showed the RNC ended 2012 with about $3.3 million in the bank and no debt.