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It was a sleepy night in this historic town south of Nashville, but inside the ballroom of the local Marriott hotel, Michael Needham had more than 800 conservative activists on their feet.

“Can we defund Obamacare?” he called out.

“Yes we can!” the crowd shouted back.

The rally was not the work of a tea party group or the local Republican congressman. Instead, it was produced by Heritage Action for America, the new advocacy arm of the venerable Heritage Foundation that is emerging as one of the most pugilistic forces on the right.

Such red-meat, campaign-style events have boosted Heritage’s standing with tea party activists, but they have also alienated many of the group’s longtime allies on Capitol Hill and are causing persistent headaches for Republican leaders. On Wednesday, for example, Heritage Action came out against President Obama’s proposal to launch military action against Syria, putting the group at odds with House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and other GOP leaders who back the strikes.

The Republican Study Committee, a group of the most conservative House members, recently barred Heritage analysts from its weekly strategy meetings, where they had played a central role for years, according to multiple people familiar with the episode. The move came after noisy disputes over a farm bill and other legislation, which left many lawmakers feeling blindsided by Heritage’s positions.

“I pay no attention to Heritage Action,” said Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who has accused the group of “destroying the Republican Party” with its push to strip funding for Obamacare. “They’ve become a purely partisan group that never asks anybody’s opinion.”

Since its founding in the 1970s, Heritage made its mark primarily as a purveyor of conservative ideas, exercising influence through dense policy papers and expert testimony. But through its new Heritage Action arm, the group is transforming itself into an overtly political force — scoring legislators on key votes, training “sentinels” to track lawmakers’ activities and marshaling loud rallies aimed at forcing Republicans to act.

Last month, the group roused the base with a series of packed “Defund Obamacare” meetings around the country featuring Needham, chief executive of Heritage Action, and former U.S. senator Jim DeMint, the new president of the Heritage Foundation.

“Folks, we can’t allow this plague to come onto the American people,” DeMint told the audience in Lincoln, which murmured its assent.

The shift toward political activism has dismayed some longtime Heritage scholars; more than half a dozen have left in recent months. But Heritage officials say the mission of the think tank has not changed and note that it has a long track record of disagreement with Republican leaders.

“We’re doing more research and policy work than we’ve ever done,” DeMint told reporters before the Lincoln rally. “The only difference is now that we have a sister organization that is taking those ideas to the people and Congress in a more aggressive way.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/with-new-grass-roots-muscle-her
itage-foundation-stirs-the-base-and-alienates-allies/2013/09/04/9319a80a-101a-11e3-bdf6-e4fc677d94a1_story.html?hpid=z5]