With Romney picking Paul Ryan as his Vice President choice we have some areas of weakness that have now become strengths. We need to push very hard on a couple of points and we could win voters that are now leaning towards Romney. We have a chance now to pick up the seniors and Catholics. Follow me below the squiggle to see why.
As a senior citizen, who won’t be eligible for Medicare until next year, it is important to me to be able to count on Social Security and Medicare. I paid into both since I graduated from High School. This is not an entitlement. This is my money we are talking about. I live on Social Security, which puts me just barely above poverty level. I have no health care because I can’t afford it. I also have C.O.P.D., which will only get worse. A voucher system with big insurance companies will guarantee that I don’t get coverage to keep the C.O.P.D. under control.
The recent AARP survey came up with these conclusions:
· 72 percent of non-retired boomers believe they will probably be forced to delay retirement, and 50 percent have little confidence that they will ever be able to retire;
· 65 percent have little confidence that they will have the means to live comfortably in retirement;
· 59 percent fear that the negative effects of the economic downturn on their retirement savings will force them to rely more heavily on Social Security and Medicare — programs they are concerned that elected officials aren't doing enough to protect.
Those numbers are staggering! Seniors are scared and rightly so of the Ryan budget. We need to hammer on the fact that Ryan’s budget will be disastrous for seniors.
The other area where having Ryan on board will help get us votes is with the Catholics. The bishops have already come out against the budget saying that it fails the moral test. The Nuns on a Bus tour is going to get more visible. They are strongly against the Ryan budget and what it does to the poor.
I grew up in a Catholic household. The people that Catholics listen to the most are not the Pope, the Cardinals, or the Bishops. It was the nuns who influenced us the most especially those of us who are products of the Catholic school system. These are the people who were in the forefront of the United Farm Workers movement when I grew up in California. These are the people who were out actively helping the poor. These are the women who pounded into our heads that Jesus wants us to take care of the poor and ill. If we were to call ourselves Christians then we better be out there working for the betterment of mankind.
Mitt Romney has handed us a golden opportunity to win to our cause voters that we thought were out of reach. All of us need to help get this message out.