Washington ( CNN ) -- The most conservative Republicans are embracing some of the same campaign strategies -- decreased federal spending , lower tax rates and repealing Obamacare -- that many say led to the party 's defeat in November . It may be a telling glimpse of the GOP leadership 's ongoing gut check . The message : We may have lost the presidential battle but we can still win the war of principles . `` First , the Republican Party needs to be a conservative party with no apologies , '' Al Cardenas , chairman of the American Conservative Union , said on Thursday to audience applause at the Conservative Political Action Conference . CPAC is an annual event which also serves as a way to check the pulse of the political right . This year 's conference is being held along the banks of the Potomac River just outside Washington in Maryland . It is the same type of message House Budget Committee chairman and 2012 GOP vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan echoed earlier in the week . `` The election did n't go our way , '' said the Wisconsin Republican , who is slated to make an appearance at the conference this week . `` Believe me , I know what that feels like . That means we surrender our principles ? That means we stop believing in what we believe in ? '' For the most conservative wing of the party 's faithful , the answer is a resounding `` no . '' Such emotions are a deep undercurrent in the GOP 's search for identity . That soul-searching is unfolding as party leadership braces itself for the next round of contentious budget battles and takes tentative steps toward working with a president whose very name is still a rallying cry for many in the base . Major conservative conference comes at crucial time for GOP . Agenda topics include `` Reversing Obamacare and Reaching Minority Voters : The Language That Works '' and `` Has Atlas Shrugged ? Business in Obama 's America . '' Flying in the face of the old-time religion fervor , Republicans face the task of wading through internal divisions as they await the Republican National Committee 's expected release of a post-mortem `` Growth and Opportunity '' report that dissects why the party lost the 2012 presidential election . The autopsy is expected to highlight issues like beefing up RNC technology , voting by mail , fundraising and other campaign mechanics , as well as outreach to specific demographic groups in hopes of identifying more effective ways to attract minority and younger voters . The report will deal with things that can be fixed , some Republican strategists say . The core message , they say , is solid . It just needs better packaging . In this , some party faithful see Ryan and his budget as an indication that the party is on the right path . Ryan 's budget shows `` the Republican Party is sticking to its principles of fiscal responsibility , '' said Ron Bonjean , a veteran GOP strategist for several congressional leaders and partner at the communications firm Singer Bonjean Strategies . The lessons the overall party `` learned were more about the presidential candidate '' and less about the broader party , he said . White House charm offensive does not extend to Ryan budget . White House officials , speaking on condition of anonymity , essentially accused Ryan of misreading last November 's election in releasing a spending plan on Tuesday that seeks to unravel much of the Obama domestic agenda . Ryan said repealing the president 's health care law is critical to efforts to balance the budget . `` We will never be able to balance the budget if you keep 'Obamacare ' going because 'Obamacare ' is a fiscal train wreck , '' Ryan said on Tuesday . Ryan 's budget and a Democratic plan by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray of Washington , which will likely include a tax increase for the wealthy and business and some spending cuts , are seen as partisan efforts unlikely to win congressional approval . And that 's the problem , some Republicans say . Conservative positions â€ ” like those championed by Ryan on issues like trimming entitlement spending as a way of cutting the deficit -- are lost in messaging that reminds voters too much of a failed presidential platform . `` They should have learned from the 2012 elections , and stand by the issue that the debt is the main problem . But the language has to be different , '' said Maricruz Magowan , an economist and conservative political commentator . `` The Republican Party has problems in communication on a number of levels . The way he is communicating in a 'take it or leave it ' way is not going to resonate with the American people , '' Magowan said . But the Republican Party needs more than a message makeover , political experts say . It needs a major overhaul . `` Now we know the messaging was bad . And we are getting to the second stage : the recalibration , '' CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger wrote recently . `` 'Think of it as a reappraisal , ' one senior GOP strategist told me . I prefer to think of it as a matter of survival . '' CNN 's Jim Acosta and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report .
Conservative Republicans abandon core values in search to change message . GOP seeks to clarify its direction during the Conservative Political Action Conference . Some political experts believe party needs major overhaul .