Florida Newspaper Headlines: Ryan Could Damage Romney in Florida

With Florida constituting a critical swing state and the states elderly constituting a serious voting block, Paul Ryan could be poisonous to Romney's chances in Florida.  At least that is what a number of Florida newspaper headlines are trumpeting.  Not that anyone remotely familiar with what the Ryan/GOP budget proposes to do to Medicare.   Even some of my Republican leaning Pennsylvania in-laws voiced concerns at one of the family reunions.   BuzzFeed has gathered together a number of headlines from Florida newspapers.  The Miami Herald is pictured above.  But that paper had LOTS of company in sounding the alarm.  

The Palm Beach Post had this headline: "With Ryan In, Medicare is Key."  A related column went on to note in part as follows:

Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate promises to intensify the debate over Medicare in senior-heavy Florida, where the issue could tip the perennial swing state’s 29 electoral votes and the presidency.

Ryan has proposed keeping Medicare as it is for current seniors and people within 10 years of retirement. But for those under 55, Ryan’s 2011 budget plan called for changing Medicare from the fee-for-service program it is now to one in which the government provides subsidies to retirees to purchase private health insurance.  The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the plan would significantly increase the out-of-pocket costs for seniors entering the program a decade from now.

Republican pollster Alex Patton of Gainesville was less certain of Ryan’s impact in Florida.
“Personally I’m excited and I like him a lot,” said Patton. “As an analyst, his effect on senior voters in Florida concerns me. You don’t get to be president if you don’t win Florida.”

 The Ledger out of Lakeland has this headline:  "Ryan Choice May Be Risky in Florida."  Here are highlights from the article:

Mitt Romney's selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate may be a risky choice in Florida as it is likely to push the debate over Medicare to the campaign's forefront, with the potential to overshadow the Republican ticket's economic message.

With nearly 3 million Floridians already on Medicare, it could be a crucial issue in the nation's largest swing state, where it's a time-honored tactic in state politics to accuse your opponent of jeopardizing programs for seniors.

It is often effective for two reasons:

Florida has many seniors, with 17 percent of Floridians older than 65 growing to 24 percent by 2030. And they vote, with voters older than 50 accounting for 49 percent of the electorate in the last presidential election.

Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a congresswoman from Broward County said   .   .   .   .   "I can say with no doubt, middle-class families and seniors in my home state of Florida want no part of a Romney-Ryan economic scheme that puts millionaires ahead of Medicare and throws the middle class under the bus to give more tax breaks to the wealthy," Wasserman Schultz said in a statement.

Go to BuzzFeed to enjoy the numerous other headlines.  For the record, (1) I agree that Medicare needs reforms, and (2) age wise, under the current Ryan plan, I am in the group that will still receive the existing Medicare plan.  Many others, will not be so fortunate.  Moreover, if seniors and those who will seniors within a decade - and their families - are going to have to pay more, the obscenely wealthy should not be reaping trillions in tax breaks as now is the case under the Romney/Ryan plan.