National Harbor, Maryland (CNN) In a tightly packed room at the Conservative Political Action Conference, more than a hundred conservatives sat down in rows or leaned against the walls to hear a half-dozen political operatives teach the basics of their trade and share one hard truth: the Left is a whole lot better at modern campaigning.

While 2016 hopefuls flocked to the National Harbor, Maryland, confab on Thursday, aspiring activists listened attentively the day before as conservative operatives extolled the work of people who would only be blamed and blasted at any other time during the conference. Barack Obama and his 2012 campaign chief tech officer Harper Reed. Obama's campaign operatives and volunteers. The socialist organizer Saul Alinsky.

"I disagree with the Left on their policy ideas, but on their organizing and training...I swipe their ideas all the time," said Ned Ryun, founder and CEO of American Majority, a group aimed at training conservative activists in grassroots and campaign organizing.

But Ryun and his American Majority colleagues are neither dwelling on nor shying away from the fact that Democrats and progressive activists have outpaced their rivals on the right in areas ranging from get-out-the-vote efforts to social media and data collection.

Instead, they're taking notes and sharing them with conservative activists who are ready to win the next election, whether at the federal, state or local level.

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