Dems, union attack vulnerable Republicans for Medicare vote

Democrats and their allies are attacking vulnerable Republicans who backed Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) budget, saying they voted to “end Medicare to give tax breaks to millionaires.”

The ads from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Americans United for Change and AFSCME preview a line of attack that will likely be used all the way through Election Day.    

AFSCME (the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), a major government workers union, and Americans United for Change, a pro-health insurance reform group, are targeting Ryan, as well as vulnerable freshmen in senior-heavy districts in the upper Midwest: Reps. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.), Chip Cravaack (R-Minn.) and Dan Benishek (R-Mich.). The total television ad buy is in the “mid five figures,” according to a source.

{mosads}”Last year Congressman Ryan voted to end Medicare,” says the ad’s narrator, an older-sounding woman. “Back home we gave that man an earful. Did he learn his lesson? Think again. Ryan just voted again to replace Medicare’s guaranteed benefits with private vouchers that won’t cover the cost of care. Then he voted to give millionaires and big oil companies more tax breaks. Can you imagine? Congressman Ryan pretends his vote against Medicare is different this time. But really, does he think we were born yesterday?”

The Medicare plan in the Ryan budget would create a new “premium support” system for seniors that would be offered alongside traditional Medicare. That system would provide a subsidy to help seniors obtain private insurance. 

The DCCC is targeting more Republicans in potentially vulnerable seats with radio ads: Benishek and Reps. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.), Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.), Tom Latham (R-Iowa), John Kline (R-Minn.), Joe Heck (R-Nev.), Francisco “Quico” Canseco (R-Texas) and Reid Ribble (R-Wis.). Most of those districts are slightly Republican-leaning, and Democrats indicate with this attack they believe it can play well with senior swing voters who might be more conservative on other issues.

Watch the Americans United for Change and AFSCME ad: