WASHINGTON — Conservatives are calling it their August Revolt -- a surprising upsurge of activism against President Obama's proposed healthcare overhaul.
Spurred on by the success of their efforts to dominate the news at Democratic town hall meetings, conservative groups are reporting increases in membership lists and are joining forces to plan at least one mass demonstration in Washington next month.
But the conservative mobilization has also created an unusual dilemma for Republican leaders, who want to turn the enthusiasm into election victories next year but find themselves the target of ire from many of the same activists.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), chairman of the GOP's Senate campaign committee, was booed at a "tea party" rally in July for supporting the government bailout of the financial services industry.
And one of the GOP's most reliable conservatives, Rep. Bob Inglis of South Carolina, was shouted down at a recent town hall meeting when he criticized a conservative broadcaster and tried to counter claims that children would soon be forced to receive swine flu vaccinations.
"You cannot build a movement on something that is not credible," said a frustrated Inglis, referring to the vaccine issue and other false rumors being spread by more aggressive critics of the health bill.
"Going door to door, I found opposition tending toward hostility," Inglis added. "At town meetings, the hostility went straight through to hysteria."
Some GOP leaders, such as former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, have tapped into the unrest -- with Palin stoking fears on her Facebook page of "Obama death panels" that would result from the healthcare legislation. That claim, too, has been widely discredited.
Finding a balance
Others are still trying to figure out how to balance the desires of the base with the need to appeal to moderate swing voters who might be turned off by high-volume rhetoric. Whether they find that balance could determine whether the Republican Party can win back independents who voted overwhelmingly for Obama last year but now, according to several polls, are questioning their commitment to him.
The GOP might take comfort in a new Gallup survey that shows more than a third of independents who have followed the healthcare rallies in the news have gained sympathy for the protesters' views, and just 16% have lost sympathy for them. And 35% of independents approve of Obama's handling of healthcare policy.
