At a recent conference, some members of the right identified foreign-policy hawks and neoconservatives, rather than Democrats, as their biggest enemies.
If successful, he could create a model for the nation and give himself a boost for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. But the strategy isn't without risks.
Republicans tried to match the Obama campaign online, but failed to learn from the failures of the Democrat's 2008 campaign.
A Democratic primary pitted an Obama-style young lawyer against an old-school, outspoken ex-Black Panther. The younger man romped.