Priebus: 2012 will be 'most important election of our lifetime'

LAS VEGAS — Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus warned Republicans Wednesday that President Obama is far more dangerous than previous Democrats, and said defeating him is the necessary step to save the country.

"We have someone in the White House who has an absolute love affair with the sound of his own voice," Priebus told GOP activists at the Western Republican Leadership Conference. "We are not dealing with a Bill Clinton Democrat in the White House."

Priebus called the 2012 "the most important election of our lifetime" and said that success in the presidential race would help Republicans save their party — a frank admission of some of the many pitfalls that befell the GOP during and after former President George W. Bush's two terms in office.

"I think we are on track in our party — and I think you agree with me — in rebuilding trust and credibility," he said. "When you have to begin in rebuilding trust and credibility, that's a tough place to start."