FRED BARNES:: Republicans Go on Medicare Offensive – WeeklyStandard
By MB Snow at August 15, 2012 | 12:50 am | Print
AUG 15, 2012 • BY FRED BARNES
President Obama and the Democrats have been ambushed. They blindly walked into the political trap Republicans set for them on Medicare.
Democratic strategists were certain that, with Paul Ryan on the Republican ticket, Medicare had become a better issue than ever for them. How do we know this? Democrats said so.
Ryan is the author of a Medicare reform plan that Democrats insist would “end Medicare as we know it.” That’s their mantra. Mitt Romney, who picked Ryan as his vice presidential running mate last week, has a similar plan of his own.
It didn’t occur to Democrats that Republicans might have devised, tested, and were ready to deliver a response that would put Democrats on the defensive. It’s a double whammy in which Obama and Democrats are held responsible for cutting Medicare spending and using the money to pay for the president’s unpopular health care plan, Obamacare.
Moving quickly, the Romney campaign packaged that two-step response into a crisp, 30-second TV ad that began being aired yesterday. The campaign plans a large buy with the ad, particularly in swing states.
via Republicans Go on Medicare Offensive | The Weekly Standard.
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