Rep. Ben Quayle (R-AZ), one of the DCCC's targets.
The DCCC is not letting the Medicare issue go, with automated calls going out in
13 Republican districts, reminding voters that their representative voted to end Medicare. Here's the script:
Hi, I’m calling from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee about Congressman (X’s) vote to end Medicare and increase the debt.
You’ve paid into Medicare for more than 25 years and earned Medicare benefits. But under the (member X) plan, Medicare will end and you’ll have to save about $182,000 more to pay for your health care from private insurance companies. But millionaires and corporations get even bigger tax breaks.
For all of (X’s) talk about reducing the debt, his plan to end Medicare actually increases the debt by almost $2 trillion because of more tax breaks for millionaires and corporations.
We must cut spending and tighten our belt, but (X) made the wrong choice. Ending Medicare to pay for subsidies for Big Oil and tax breaks for millionaires, while increasing the debt! That’s not right.
There's a good reason to keep on hammering on Medicare. It works. It's not the Republicans just haven't hit on the right messaging strategy for their plan. The country hates it. The latest polling is also interesting in pointing out that, so far at least, the GOP's efforts to attack Dems from the left on Medicare isn't working.
Of course, this also means that for this to remain a salient issue in 2012, Medicare benefits (and by extension Medicaid and Social Security benefits) can't be cut to appease the austerity gods. Or make a deal with Republicans on the debt ceiling.