Shepherdstown, West Virginia (CNN) Senate Democrats have been tight-lipped about their retreat in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

Aides declined to even give the location, let alone the agenda of the two-day event. Many staffers, left back in Washington, weren't aware of the agenda for the event at all.

Reporters and curious town residents weren't allowed on the grounds of the Bavarian Inn where it was being held.

But the focus inside the gathering on the first day targeted two things, according to two sources familiar with the event: how President Donald Trump beat them in 2016, and how to secure at least some of his voters for the midterms.

There were scheduled panels on that dealt with re-connecting with rural voters, reaching back out to the very voters that once reliably cast ballots in their favor but left them in droves for Trump in November.

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