Dem group sending trackers to CPAC

The Democratic opposition group American Bridge is taking aim at the Conservative Political Action Conference, sending video trackers to keep an eye on the conservative confab and releasing a new memo and web video blasting the presidential candidates who will speak there.

{mosads}The organization has bought tickets for five staffers to head in and record CPAC’s panels and track down the presidential candidates as they mix among the crowd.

“We’ve tracked the event before, but this is definitely the most sophisticated CPAC operation we’ve run. Having five trackers at the conference to hit all those smaller panels and giving live briefs back to the office is going to allow us engage in rapid response on a totally different scale than previous years,” said Bridge spokesman Jesse Lehrich.

The group isn’t waiting for CPAC to start to begin taking potshots at the likely Republican presidential contenders.

“If the last couple months have shown us anything, it’s how wildly unprepared for primetime this cast of presidential hopefuls truly are,” American Bridge President Brad Woodhouse says in the memo, first shared with The Hill.

The group is also pushing out a video featuring clips of television anchors criticizing former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) and Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and highlighting their recent stumbles.

“While CPAC offers a potential lifeboat for a slew of floundering candidates, navigating the waters will be dicey. It’s no secret that the Tea Party has dragged the GOP sharply to the right. These days, having appeal with the grassroots Republican base and appeal with the general electorate are mutually exclusive,” Woodhouse concludes. “So how will these stumbling candidates manage to persuade CPAC’s red meat crowd — and more broadly, Republican primary voters — of their conservative bona fides, without signing their own general election death warrants? Here’s my simple answer: They can’t.”