Why Oppo Researchers Are Trading 1,500-Page Reports for TikTok-Savvy Strategies

It’s not news that Americans’ attention spans are shrinking. But it’s now reached the point where even opposition researchers have determined that they need to shorten up their copy. In fact, that’s the conclusion that Ryan Powers made before officially launching his research shingle CANDR Strategies this week.

“The days of the 1500-page research book are going to be behind us,” he told C&E. “Now, it’s more about not only the information you can find, but being able to present it in a compelling way.”

Part of this move to streamline the material stems from the fact that researchers are no longer just working with seasoned media consultants on how to turn their work product into advertising. Influencers and content creators from outside of the campaign’s core team are now an audience for opposition research.

For researchers in 2025, “it’s engaging and working with content creators on finding new, innovative ways to convey the narrative or the information discovered,” said Powers, who served as research director for the NRCC last cycle. “The attention spans are getting shorter and shorter as the news cycle gets shorter and shorter — and research hasn’t necessarily kept up with that.”

Another change in how researchers do their work: more candidates who have histories with social media are running for office. Mining their old profiles for oppo is going to be a challenge. Powers pointed to Florida Democrat Patrick Murphy, who lost his challenge to Sen. Marco Rubio (R) in 2016, as an example of this next generation of candidates who may be vulnerable for things they’ve posted online while growing up.

“Now the trick is going to be not only being aware of those resources, but being able to efficiently and effectively search those resources for content,” he said. “There are a lot of really cool tools that are being developed [that search] both deep and dark web. … But again the real trick becomes not where you can find the information, but how you can effectively communicate it to those who will be in a position [to use it].”

Now, political journalists are a traditional audience for oppo, but Powers sees their importance shrinking in cycles to come. “I think the days of traditional pitching of oppo is going to become less and less [important],” he said.

Powers is casting a wide net for clients with his new firm, noting he’s willing to work with any “campaign, company or cause” that needs research.