Washington (CNN) - What a difference two years make. Instead of a band of rabble-rousing conservatives, a markedly different group was plotting campaign strategy with House Republican leaders at a recent party headquarters meeting.
Gone is the tea party-infused talk of confrontation. This diverse group - top-tier candidates picked to be in the GOP's "Young Guns" program - includes an openly gay former Massachusetts state legislator, an African-American female mayor from Utah and an Indian-American Ivy league graduate from California. Unlike the take-no-prisoners approach of two years ago, these candidates stressed the need to work with Democrats to get things done in Washington.