Jason Stein, and Jacob Carpenter

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

JANESVILLE - Vice President Mike Pence spoke here Friday alongside other top Republicans to unite his party around a replacement of Obamacare — a challenge that could define the presidency of Donald Trump.

With both conservative and moderate Republicans shaky on the plan, Pence sought to shore up support by heading to the hometown of House Speaker Paul Ryan to visit headquarters for a chain of farm supply stores. It was a clear signal that the White House wants other Republicans to fall in line behind the House leadership's plans to replace the Affordable Care Act.

Pence held a listening session with local business owners and farmers and then told hundreds in an invite-only audience that the replacement process would begin in "just a matter of days."

"Let me make you a promise: The Obamacare nightmare is about to end...Obamacare has failed and Obamacare must go," Pence said.

Introducing Pence, Ryan vowed Friday that together the White House and Congress will "tackle our problems before they tackle us."

But not all Republicans agree on how to do that. Moderate GOP lawmakers are concerned that an Obamacare replacement bill might not cover enough Americans and conservatives say that it would create a new entitlement program by offering tax credits to help the needy afford coverage.

On Thursday and again on Friday, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) criticized House GOP leadership for not letting him see the bill that Paul calls "Obamacare lite."

To draw attention to that, Paul wheeled a copy machine through the halls of the Capitol and said he was looking for the text of the bill — tactics typically used by politicians against the opposing party, not their own.

The further Republicans go in showing open dissent and adopting opposing positions to the House bill, the more difficult compromise could become for the GOP.

Wisconsin Democrats, meanwhile, are seeing a burst of activity following their sweeping defeat last fall.

Mark Fuller, chairman of the Rock County Democratic Party, said local liberals are enthusiastic about working against GOP priorities, including the Obamacare repeal. Fuller said attendance at the county party's monthly meetings in Janesville has increased from about 30 to 50 since Trump's November victory.

"It's really galvanized people and there's a lot of energy," Fuller said. "They want to do things."

Democrats saw similar enthusiasm in the 2011 labor protests against GOP Gov. Scott Walker only to fail to beat him in both the 2012 recall and in 2014. Fuller has no indication that 2018 will be different, but he does have a feeling that his party has learned from the string of defeats.

"I think people are more realistic about the work it's going to take," he said. "People have learned that it takes a lot more than just a protest."

Meanwhile, some Republicans are showing more support for the emerging position of Ryan and the White House.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson appeared with Pence,as did U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.

"Wisconsin can’t afford this mess and neither can the rest of the country. We’ve got to fix it right now," Price told the audience.

Walker missed the event because of a trip to Washington, D.C., but has also said favorable things about the House plan.

Pence's visit comes the day after the Indianapolis Star reported that he routinely used a private email account to conduct public business as governor of Indiana, at times discussing sensitive matters and homeland security issues. Republicans have criticized former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for discussing much higher level national security issues through a private email account.

Pence press secretary Marc Lotter said Friday that these personal account emails are being compiled to be released under Indiana's open records law.

In Janesville, Pence toured the headquarters of Blain's Farm and Fleet, which offers everything from tools and animal feed to hunting gear and fishing licenses at 36 stores in Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois. The stores offer a ready made connection to rural life in the Upper Midwest and to the rural voters who were critical to the November victory of Trump and Pence.

Thomas Gibbons, a Twin Lake computer system analyst, said he didn't hear anything new Friday in Pence's speech.

But Gibbons, an early skeptic of Trump during the 2016 GOP primary, said he's already been won over by Trump decisions like the recent immigration order and more military spending that Gibbons said would boost national security.

"I'm really impressed," he said of Trump.

Outside the event that was closed to the public, scores of protesters waved signs addressing issues ranging from health care to education to the Trump camp's relationship with Russia.

Harry Bennett, 68, of Madison, held a cardboard sign demanding Pence, Ryan and Price reveal their plan to repeal and replace Obamacare.

"I think they would take so much political heat if they throw 20 million off health care at this point," Bennett said of Republicans. "I don't envy them, and I don't like Donald Trump, but he's in a hard place right now."

LIVESTREAM REPLAY: Protest outside Paul Ryan and Mike Pence appearance in Janesville