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.

Unlike two years ago, Priebus won't have to use his own credit card to pay for his plane ticket to Charlotte.

Now the big question is whether he will be able to raise enough money to transform the party, and if he can, will his fellow Republicans embrace his plan?