The Obama campaign's new focus in the coming days will center around educating the American public on John McCain's "Radical Health Care Plan" and if I had to describe it, this sounds to me like a Deal Closing play for the Jugular....
Obama is unveiling his new assault at a rally in Newport News, Va., this afternoon, and the campaign is following up with TV ads, radio spots, mailers and grassroots events in battleground states, aides said.
According to Mark Halperin, Obama's campaign has Four new ads coming out and Four Battleground mailers in route to swing state voters as well as a new radio push.
“He taxes health care benefits for the first time in history; millions lose the health care they have; millions pay more for the health care they get; drug and insurance companies continue to profit; and middle class families watch the system they rely on begin to unravel before their eyes.”
More from Politico...
“So here’s John McCain’s radical plan in a nutshell: he taxes health care benefits for the first time in history; millions lose the health care they have; millions pay more for the health care they get; drug and insurance companies continue to profit; and middle class families watch the system they rely on begin to unravel before their eyes.”
Burton told Obama’s traveling press corps this morning: “In the next phase on the campaign trail, on TV, in the mail and on the radio, we are going to do two things: 1) Educate voters about voters about Senator Obama’s plant to get all Americans affordable, acceptable health care; and 2) Make sure that voters know what John McCain isn’t telling you about his health-care plan.
“He loves to talk about his tax credit. But what he doesn’t tell you is that he taxes health-care benefits for the first time in history. Millions lose the health-care that they have. And millions more will pay for the health care that they get. It’s the same approach President Bush road-tested a few years ago. But if John McCain were to succeed where George Bush failed, it could have disastrous results.”
The Obama campaign is also out with a new 11 page memo on the Five Pitfalls of the McCain Plan (PDF Warning)
- Pays for a New Tax Credit by Taxing Employees’ Health Benefits for the First Time in History. John McCain and Sarah Palin argue that their health care plan is budget neutral, and that it includes a new $5,000 health care tax credit to help families purchase insurance. What they don’t tell you is that to pay for their plan, they will tax the health benefits that workers receive from their employers for the first time in history. Moreover, McCain’s health care tax credits would go directly to insurance companies, while his new tax on employee health premiums would come directly out of workers’ pockets. This tax punishes those who currently have generous health insurance, and over time will result in higher taxes for tens of millions of middle-class families.
- Forces at least 20 million people to lose employer-based coverage. By taxing employee health benefits, the McCain plan will make it more expensive for employers to provide coverage. As a result, independent analyses show that employers will drop at least 20 million people from coverage and force them to seek insurance in the individual market, where costs are higher, quality is lower, and coverage more uncertain. By moving more risk upon the shoulders of individuals, it raises insurance costs for everyone nationally. And by forcing millions into the individual market, people with pre-existing conditions from asthma to cancer will be at risk of not being able to get health insurance at all.
- Undermines the ability of people who do have coverage to get services from cancer screenings to vaccines. The McCain plan undermines state laws that require insurance companies to cover bedrock health care services such as cancer screenings and vaccines. The plan empowers insurance companies over doctors and nurses, while making America less healthy. In fact, John McCain recently explained his intention to deregulate health insurance along the lines that the banking industry has been deregulated over the past decade.
- Fails to take on rising health care costs. The McCain plan has no strategy to contain spiraling national health care costs. Without the aggressive investments needed to modernize our health care system, a recent analysis concluded that McCain’s plan could actually increase health care costs by $37 billion by 2010.
- Fails to address the crisis of the uninsured. The McCain health plan does not even attempt to solve the problem of the uninsured – it barely reduces the number of uninsured individuals, and it leaves those with preexisting conditions at the greatest risk of being unable to find affordable coverage. This lack of commitment to ensuring affordable coverage for all Americans is consistent with McCain’s record, including his vote last fall against funding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) that would have extended coverage to 3.8 million children.
When one compares this new campaign turn to the McCain promise to Ramp up efforts to discredit Obama via his associations, its no wonder that Obama is moving up in the polls as McCain settles @ 40%...
Sen. John McCain and his Republican allies are readying a newly aggressive assault on Sen. Barack Obama's character, believing that to win in November they must shift the conversation back to questions about the Democrat's judgment, honesty and personal associations, several top Republicans said.
With just a month to go until Election Day, McCain's team has decided that its emphasis on the senator's biography as a war hero, experienced lawmaker and straight-talking maverick is insufficient to close a growing gap with Obama. The Arizonan's campaign is also eager to move the conversation away from the economy, an issue that strongly favors Obama and has helped him to a lead in many recent polls.
Issues, Schmissues... Let's scare people... I think this is yet another battle that Obama wins.
Update I: Here are ads I've been able to find
Update II: Just found a focus group by Peter Hart via First Read that pertains to these topics; must read stuff...
On the appeal of Health Care
But Coates, who has a Republican father and Democratic brother equally in his ear, said though national security was important to him, equally important were manufacturing jobs and health care for his parents -- something he said he feels Obama is perhaps more likely to make attainable.
“If he [Obama] could guarantee something on health care-- my parents are older,” Coates said. “My parents are very important to me.”
It perhaps explains the Obama campaign’s round of Midwest health-care ads, painting the Illinois senator’s plan as a centrist one, which rejects both extremes.
And on the McCain negativity which translates to temperament issues
“His temper concerns me,” Spitzer said of McCain. Being a “maverick could be bad,” he added, particularly when it comes to negotiating with other countries. “I could see him getting mad in a meeting…. that concerns me. … Maybe it’s better to have something fresh, new.”
Of McCain, Geitz said his “age” and “temperament make me uncertain.” In fact, everyone unprompted, made the point of McCain’s age and temperament, including those solidly voting for McCain.
Susan Pickering, a 46-year-old, Fox News-watching staunch Republican homemaker and McCain defender, even said, “What makes me nervous about him, he can go off half-cocked occasionally. Anyone stuck in a room for five years, uh, I don’t know.”
OUCH! I don't think the McCain campaign is in touch with voters if they think 100% negative, louder negative, baseless issueless negatives will move any votes. Instead, it all just plays into set perceptions of his angry personal campaign.
Update III: Another great new ad, One Word