Mitt Romney's "bold" pick of Paul Ryan for a running mate seems to be backfiring, at least with the older crowd. As more people learn about what Romney and Ryan want to do to Medicare, fewer and fewer have confidence in Romney.
In 2010, Republicans successfully painted Obama as gutting Medicare, scaring many seniors onto their side. But, with seniors finding they're paying less out of pocket for health care under the new law, and not seeing any pain from it, that fright is fading. The Democrats' message on Romney/Ryan vouchercare is getting heard, and the polls are reflecting that.
The latest New York Times/CBS News poll, conducted over the last week, found that Mr. Obama held an advantage over Mr. Romney on the question of who would do a better job of handling Medicare [50-43]. That is consistent with other recent polls and is a shift from just last month, before the parties’ national conventions, when the two men were statistically tied on the issue. [...]
In the Times/CBS poll, more than three-quarters of voters favored keeping Medicare the way it is rather than switching to a system like the one backed by Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan. From the White House on down, Democrats are calling the Republican approach a “voucher” plan, suggesting that it borders on privatizing the system; Republicans prefer the term “premium support.” [...]
“It’s pretty clear that Medicare is the one issue that could dislodge the Republicans’ headlock on those voters,” said Andrew Kohut, the president of the nonpartisan Pew Research Center.
“The Republicans brought it back to life,” Mr. Kohut added — first by House Republicans’ approval this year and last of the Ryan budgets, which died in the Democratic-controlled Senate, and most of all by Mr. Romney’s elevation of Mr. Ryan to the presidential ticket.
The Obama campaign will continue to focus on Medicare, and is apparently ready to take on Social Security as well, reminding voters that Romney and Ryan have both called for privatizing that program. The most potent weapon they've got here, though, is the informal "Secretary of Explaining Things," President Bill Clinton. He stumped for Obama last week in Florida, and did one of his great explanations on those Obamacare cuts to Medicare Advantage.
Mr. Clinton pointed out that a record number of insurance companies and beneficiaries now participate in Medicare Advantage, and that premiums are lower. “So if the president was trying to wreck Medicare Advantage, he did a poor job of it because it’s in the best shape it’s ever been in,” Mr. Clinton said.
The cynical ploy by Romney and Ryan to insist that their changes would only affect those under 55,
another Romney/Ryan lie, isn't working for them. Americans of all ages want to see Medicare, and Social Security, preserved as-is for future generations. All the scaremongering on deficits that politicians—on both sides of the aisle—can do won't change that simple fact.