Governor Sam Brownback made a request of the audience of grassroots activists and students assembled for the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday.
“You gotta match the energy of the Left with the energy from the Right,” Brownback declared.
“There’s a lot of motivation out there,” he said, “And you’ve gotta match that side to side.”
This year, CPAC comes at a time when liberal activists are bombarding congressional Republicans’ town halls across the country with protests over their plans to repeal Obamacare.
Their efforts have many wondering whether the law is enjoying newfound support after years of disapproval.
On this question, Brownback’s point is relevant.
A Politico/Morning Consult poll released Wednesday found Americans evenly split over the law, with 45 percent approving and 45 percent disapproving.
Interestingly, the poll also found more Americans strongly disapprove of the law than strongly approve of it by a significant margin, 30 percent to 23 percent respectively.
This indicates that the Left has been able to mobilize its recent protests with a smaller pool of strongly disapproving Americans than the pool conservatives have available to mobilize demonstrations of support.
The town hall protests have attracted much media attention, leading many to question whether this opposition will impact congressional Republicans’ plans to repeal Obamacare. But conservatives are just as capable of “matching” their “energy,” to borrow Brownback’s language.
That’s what got so many of them elected in the first place.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
