He's a great fundraiser. For Democrats.
Somehow or another, Republicans have to figure out how to sell the Ryan budget, the Republican vision for America that was so roundly defeated by American in 2012. Greg Sargent has the
scoop on what they're trying.
Here’s a preview of what the GOP messaging will look like. The Congressional Leadership Fund, a group with ties to John Boehner, is running new ads slamming two House Dems (Joe Garcia of Florida and Sean Maloney of New York) for voting against the Ryan budget. It features a mom worried about family finances, and says:
Families make tough decisions to balance their budget. Why can’t Washington? Congressman Joe Garcia just voted against balancing Washington’s budget. Garcia backs policies to put America more in debt.
What Medicare vouchers? Who said anything about Medicare vouchers. That policy even
failed with almost all Senate Republicans. No wonder they're trying to avoid it. The entire Republican rebranding effort might just end up being boiled down into two words: "balanced budget." That's the only thing they've got going for them that still polls well.
In the meantime, though, Democrats aren't going to let anyone forget what's actually in the budget, and if this is any indication, aren't going to have a problem with that.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised $500,000 in the 24-hour period after the House of Representatives voted to pass Ryan's budget on Thursday, Democratic officials said Friday.
The messaging is easy. Republicans balance their budget on the backs of working families, the elderly, the disabled, poor people, children, pretty much the 99 percent. Democrats need only to resist undercutting their message by offering up ideas like benefit cuts to Medicare and Social Security.
Send an email to President Obama and congressional leadership telling them to strengthen Social Security instead of cutting it.