All roads lead to the 2013 RNC election report autopsy.
The report was clearly wrong on the issue of immigration and how to appeal to Hispanics. It only barely touched on economic populism and placed too much emphasis on moderating on social issues, which is the opposite of what the GOP base wants.
But is what the base wants the only consideration? Opposition to abortion should obviously be kept from the GOP’s perspective, as it does turn out a huge portion of the base who might not otherwise vote, but opposition to LGBT rights (and probably also marijuana legalisation) is a completely losing issue for the party.
Opposition to marijuana legalization will almost certainly fall by the wayside in the near future as it's not even that popular of a position among the base. LGBT rights is a more nebulous thing and not exactly a major issue right now; as stated elsewhere, gay marriage is likely done as an issue, but the GOP strongly feels it can win on the transgender issue, so that's not going away any time soon.
