GOP advice on Medicare: Attack

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan say that they welcome a debate about the federal budget and their plans to reform Medicare.

But Republican strategists believe that there is really only one way to win the Medicare message wars: mount a bruising offense and attack Democrats for their own actions surrounding the popular federal health care program for senior citizens.

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(Also on POLITICO: Mitt tries to explain Medicare stance)

Historically, Republicans lose elections when entitlement reform becomes a central issue in campaigns. But interviews with several Republican strategists this week said that Democrats are far from bulletproof when it comes to this politically explosive terrain.

This year, GOP message-makers say the reduced Medicare spending provisions in President Barack Obama?s health care law give the Romney-Ryan ticket an unprecedented opportunity to gain the upper hand on the Medicare argument: by relentlessly slamming the president on the issue, then pivoting back to the economy. (Of course, Democrats are hitting Romney and Republicans just as hard back).

(Also on POLITICO: Obama's first ad on Ryan, Medicare)

?Historically ? for Republicans if you can fight Medicare and Social Security to a draw, that?s good,? said longtime GOP strategist Charlie Black. ?But what?s changed is the president taking money out of Medicare for current recipients to fund his boondoggle [health care] program.?

That argument ? that the Affordable Care Act took $716 billion from the Medicare program ? is one the Romney-Ryan ticket has been making in the week since Ryan became Romney?s running mate.

?We?re the ones who are offering a plan to save Medicare, to protect Medicare, to strengthen Medicare,? Ryan told Fox News earlier this week. ?We?re the ones who are not raiding Medicare to pay for Obamacare.?

Medicare ?is not the ace up the sleeve [for Democrats] that it has been in previous elections,? argued Luke Frans, the executive director of the GOP polling firm Resurgent Republic. ?We can get it to the point where it?s a competitive policy debate.?

There is agreement among GOP strategists that delving too far into the policy details surrounding the Ryan plan to convert Medicare into a voucher system in 2023 would be suicidal in the heat of a general election campaign. Romney attempted to put some meat on his budget plan by outlining it on a whiteboard this week, but getting bogged down in a policy debate isn?t advisable, they say. The campaign instead plans to contrast its big-picture vision for fiscal responsibility with Obama?s irresponsible economic stewardship.

A Romney campaign aide told POLITICO that the campaign invites further debate on Medicare ? and that they think it?s an argument they can win.

The aide added that voters know Medicare is in serious financial trouble and understand the stakes if the program isn?t reformed. Boston plans to highlight how Obama?s proposals don?t address how to deal with the impending Medicare funding crisis.

In that vein, the Romney campaign went up with an ad just days after the Ryan pick, hitting Obama on the $716 billion figure.

?You paid into Medicare for years: every paycheck. Now, when you need it, Obama has cut $716 billion dollars from Medicare. Why? To pay for Obamacare,? the ad says. ?The Romney-Ryan plan protects Medicare benefits for today?s seniors and strengthens the plan for the next generation.?

How the GOP ticket talks about Medicare is vitally important in Florida in particular, a competitive swing state with a high retirement-age population. Ryan is visiting the state for the first time today since he was named to the ticket, and will go to The Villages ? billed as the largest retirement community in the world ? with his mom.

Source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79848.html

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