As you know, Paul Ryan's budget is toxic: it already took down a Republican in a New York congressional district that had been GOP-held for generations. Now there is a real chance it can take down not just Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, but also Republican House candidates, and give the Democrats are good chance at retaking the House and holding onto the Senate. Ryan's budget destroys Medicare, replacing it with a "voucher" or "coupon" system, damages Social Security and heavily cuts programs from education and transportation to food safety. This is EXACTLY what we want to run against!
Yet, I see no television ads linking Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to Ryan's toxic budget. The first ad talking about Medicare appeared yesterday, and was released by Mitt Romney! Unlike with Sarah Palin, we cannot count on the press to give a fair picture of Paul Ryan's proposals. This is the Obama campaign's job!
It essential that the Obama campaign go strong against Romney/Ryan on the Ryan Budget NOW, BEFORE the convention (when Ryan will get free prime time propaganda aimed at rehabilitating the Ryan Budget)! A full court press now could be devastating. Mark Halperin has suggested that a strong effort by the Democrats on Ryan before the Republican Convention could potentially win the election for them in the next 10 days. While I think "win" is a strong term, I actually agree with Halperin (which greatly surprises me!) that a strong push now, in the next week, would greatly reduce the Romney/Ryan ticket's chances for victory.
So Obama campaign, where are the ads? We need them up today, NOT a week from now, because every day voters are making decisions about Paul Ryan and what he stands for. We need to give them the full facts so they can make an well-reasoned choice.
I think we really need two types of ads: (1) an ad or ads that deals specifically on Ryan's elimination of Medicare and the severe cuts to Social Security and (2) an ad or ads on the other key parts of the Ryan Budget (the cuts to education (Pell Grants), the environment, transportation and food safety).
Please give your thoughts on the best ad ideas and the best strategy to move forward on this now. And please vote in the poll.