--- title: Conservatives Aim to Take Campaign Tips From Obama Playbook description: Conservative activists met outside Washington, D.C., to discuss how to use the Obama campaign's playbook to get Republicans elected. canonical: https://time.com/3723336/conservative-organizers-cpac/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-26T04:23:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:05:22.770Z article:section: Politics og:title: Conservatives Aim to Take Campaign Tips From Obama Playbook og:description: They're hoping to use those tactics in 2016. og:url: https://time.com/3723336/conservative-organizers-cpac/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf187f60772533bc5/69878124a988caf6266acae8/cpac-republicans-mark-peterson.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: CPAC 2015 Republicans Conservatives og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Conservatives Aim to Take Campaign Tips From Obama Playbook twitter:description: They're hoping to use those tactics in 2016. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf187f60772533bc5/69878124a988caf6266acae8/cpac-republicans-mark-peterson.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Conservatives Aim to Take Campaign Tips From Obama Playbook by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Feb 26, 2015 4:23 AM UTC  An empty ballroom set up for the start of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md. on the morning of Feb. 26, 2015. An empty ballroom set up for the start of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md. on the morning of Feb. 26, 2015.Mark Peterson—Redux for TIME by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Feb 26, 2015 4:23 AM UTC Conservative organizers hope to overcome a crucial shortfall in digital savvy and voter reach ahead of the 2016 election by taking a page out of President Obama’s winning campaign playbook. “We can do better on the center-right at moving people to the polls before they close,” said Ned Ryun the founder of American Majority, a political action committee that focuses on local organizing. “If you’re going to turn out a sophisticated, targeted campaign, look at the last three elections.” Ryun was one of many GOP activists at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington D.C. who huddled in training rooms Wednesday to plan a strategy that will build local campaign infrastructure and social media strategies in order to get voters to the polls. Organizers pointed to several Democratic outreach strategies as effective models. Building local support based on meticulous electronic data election was something “the Obama campaign did very well in 2012,” Ryun added. Conservatives also said they envy Democrats efforts to target unregistered voters and convince voters to go to the polls. Part of the advantage comes from more focus by progressives and the Democratic party on training frontline organizers and campaign staff in the latest tools of the trade. This is the first year CPAC is hosting its own “activism boot camp,” modeled in large part on boot camps held by progressive groups such s the New Organizing Institute. The aim is to broaden the GOP’s reach by training organizers in social media, research for negative ads and targeting voters. ### See the 2016 Candidates Looking Very Presidential  Sen. Ted Cruz is surrounded by stars and stripes at the 2014 Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. on September 26, 2014. Mark Peterson—Redux  Hillary Clinton Hillary Clinton gazes pensively into the distance at Iowa Senator Tom Harken'a annual Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa on September 14, 2014. Brooks Kraft—Corbis for TIME  Jeb Bush Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush flashes a power watch before giving his keynote address at the National Summit on Education Reform in Washington on Nov. 20, 2014. Susan Walsh—AP  Bernie Sanders waves to supporters after officially announcing his candidacy for the U.S. presidency during an event at Waterfront Park in Burlington, Vermont, on May 26, 2015. Win McNamee—Getty Images  Chris Christie New Jersey Governor Chris Christie strikes a presidential power stance at the ceremony for the opening of the 206 bypass in Hillsborough, New Jersey on October 28, 2013. Mark Peterson—Redux  Former Hewlett-Packard Co Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina listens to her introduction from the side of the stage at the Freedom Summit in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 24, 2015. Jim Young—Reuters  Rand Paul Sen. Rand Paul works a crowd during a campaign stop on October 24, 2014 in McDonough, Georgia. Jessica McGowan—Getty Images  Rick Perry Texas Gov. Rick Perry looks powerfully patriotic during the National Anthem before an NCAA college football game on Nov. 27, 2014, in College Station, Texas. David J. Phillip—AP  Bobby Jindal Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal looks to the future during The Family Leadership Summit on Aug. 9, 2014, in Ames, Iowa. Charlie Neibergall—AP  Martin O'Malley Maryland Governor Martin OíMalley ponders decorating ideas in front of his possible future home on CBS's Face the Nation on Feb. 23, 2014. Chris Usher—AP  Marco Rubio Sen. Marco Rubio looks determined the morning after the State of the Union address in Washington, D.C. on January 29, 2014. Melissa Golden—Redux  Ben CarsonBen Carson at the Conservative Political Action Committee annual conference on March 8, 2014. Susan Walsh—AP  Jim Webb Retiring Sen. Jim Webb imitates the presidential wave during a rally in Virginia Beach, Va. on Sept. 27, 2012. Steve Helber—AP  John Kasich Ohio Gov. John Kasich practices his presidential victory pose at the Ohio Republican Party celebration on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014, in Columbus, Ohio. Tony Dejak—AP  Rick Santorum Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum looks resolute at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 7, 2014. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Scott Walker Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker practices the presidential point on March 3, 2014 in Milwaukee. Jeffrey Phelps—AP  Mike Huckabee Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee fine-tunes his presidential oratory at the Conservative Political Action Committee annual conference in National Harbor, Md. on March 7, 2014. Susan Walsh—AP  Lincoln Chafee, Former Rhode Island Governor, poses for a selfie with a student after announcing he will seek the Democratic nomination for president in Arlington, Va. on June 3, 2015. Jonathan Ernst—Reuters  Lindsey Graham Lindsey Graham announced his plans to join the 2016 presidential race. Alex Wong—Getty Images  George Pataki Former New York governor George Pataki listens to a question at the First in the Nation Republican Leadership Conference in Nashua, New Hampshire, in this April 17, 2015 file photo. Brian Snyder—Reuters In recent years on the presidential level, the disparity has been stark. The Obama 2012 campaign’s sophisticated voter targeting and data-driven approach to getting out the vote applied a level of technical sophistication the Romney campaign lacked. Obama volunteers knocked on over 7 million doors on election day, using complex data to target voters, according to a 2012 Obama [campaign report](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/legacy-report.pdf). That compares with Romney’s 1 million door knocks, Ryun said. The Romney campaign also did a “very poor” job in establishing a campaign infrastructure, said Ryun. “The emphasis of the Romney campaign on infrastructure and the get out the vote that should have been there, was not there.” Much of the conservative effort will also be focused on attacking Democratic candidates. The research arm of America Rising, a GOP-friendly super PAC that combs opposition candidates’ public records to inform critical advertisements, has been investigating Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s background since 2013. During a presentation on Wednesday, Geoff Embler, vice president at [American Rising](http://time.com/8688/party-foul-inside-the-rise-of-spies-mercenaries-and-billionaire-moneymen/), quoted the campaign manager for the 2008 Obama campaign David Plouffe, who said in 2012, “nowadays, if it doesn’t have a video component, it doesn’t really go anywhere.” “That is a philosophy we’ve really taken to heart,” Embler said his group, which is known for extensively culling video to run ads against opponents. Democrats have tended to use Twitter and Facebook more fluently than GOP organizers, building campaigns around hashtags and effective Facebook posts. There are limits though to mimicking Obama’s 2012 strategy, organizers said. “You can’t run a social media campaign in 2016 just based on what Obama did in 2012 or you’ll get crushed,” American Majority national executive director Matt Batzel said. “It’s innovate or die.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3723336/conservative-organizers-cpac/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3723336/conservative-organizers-cpac/"},"headline":"Conservatives Aim to Take Campaign Tips From Obama Playbook","datePublished":"2015-02-26T04:23:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:05:22.770Z","description":"They're studying the tactics used by President Obama in 2008 and 2012","url":"https://time.com/3723336/conservative-organizers-cpac/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","CPAC"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf187f60772533bc5/69878124a988caf6266acae8/cpac-republicans-mark-peterson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf187f60772533bc5/69878124a988caf6266acae8/cpac-republicans-mark-peterson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"CPAC 2015 Republicans Conservatives","caption":"CPAC 2015 Republicans Conservatives","creditText":"Mark Peterson—Redux for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3723336/conservative-organizers-cpac/","name":"Conservatives Aim to Take Campaign Tips From Obama Playbook"}}]}] ```