Andrew Sullivan: How Obama's Long Game Will Outsmart His Critics

[eridani]

65. They got out more votes because they successfully faked being defenders of Medicare

--which they most assuredly were not. Their lie that PPACA cut Medicare (it did not--it just cut subsidies to Medicare Advantage) was allowed to stand because Democrats (and particularly Obama) absolutely refused to defend the far more efficient GOVERNMENT traditional Medicare as an example of how government is better at providing public goods. I know quite a few people who got a lot of GOTV work done in 2008 that refused to attend OFA meetings because all they cared about was laundry lists instead of values.

The Catfood Commission cut into my GOTV activities a lot. I covered three precincts instead of eight as in 2008 because of all the meetings and rallies against proposals like raising retirement and Medicare eligibility age, voucherizing Medicare (proposed by "Democrat" Alice Rivlin before Ryan wrote his highly unpopular law), and cutting benefits by using chained COLA. If Obama wants more effort from me this year, he can fucking well stop proposing policies that amount to mass murder for my age demographic.

GOTV can go only so far in the face of wussy laundry list messaging. In the three precincts that I tracked, the 2010 turnout was lower than the 2008 turnout. You can urge people to vote, but they won't do it if they don't think it will make a difference.

REPUBLICAN MAILER ON MEDICARE

http://www.gop.com/index.php/briefing/comments/reach_out_and_touch_medicare#ixzz1US9aru7F

For The Record…It Was Obama Who Offered To Cut Hundreds Of Billions In Medicare During The Debt Debate

OBAMA AND DEMOCRATS PUT MEDICARE CUTS IN DEBT CEILING DEAL

USA Today: “Cuts in Medicare and other entitlement programs are on the table.” (Susan Page and Fredreka Schouten, “Political Damage Even If A Debt Deal Is Done,” USA Today, 7/31/11)

Obama Agreed To Medicare Cuts In Debt Ceiling Deal. “The deal announced on Sunday by Congressional leaders and the White House would make across-the-board cuts in military spending, education, transportation and Medicare payments to health care providers if Congress does not enact further deficit-cutting legislation by the end of the year.” (Robert Pear, “Congress Must Trim Deficit To Avoid Broader Cuts,” The New York Times, 7/31/11)

Obama Said “Adjustments” Must Be Made To Medicare. OBAMA: “Yes, that means making some adjustments to protect health care programs like Medicare so they’re there for future generations.” (President Barack Obama, Remarks On Budget Control Act, Washington, D.C., 8/2/11)

DURING DEBT CEILING DEBATE, OBAMA OFFERED $650 BILLION IN CUTS TO MEDICARE, SOCIAL SECURITY, AND MEDICAID

Obama Put “Major Changes” To Medicare On The Table During Debt Ceiling Negotiations. “To hit the $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, the congressional committee is likely to reconsider major changes to Medicare that the White House and congressional leaders put on the table during this summer's debt-ceiling negotiations.” (Janet Adamy, “Debt Deal May Hit Medicare,” The Wall Street Journal, 8/2/11)

Analysis by Democratic pollster—
http://capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org/index.php/2011/08/pollster-medicare-not-just-a-seniors-issue

Her bottom line: It is an even more important political issue now than in the past. “It’s not just a seniors’ issue by any matter or means,” she said. The Medicare changes in the budget plan advanced by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., “really elevated it, because it was such a clear distinction” between the Democratic and Republican positions. ”You saw it play out in the N.Y. special . And it is the top testing message in congressional races right now,” Lake added.

She’ll be watching how aggressively Democrats rally around protecting Medicare but believes it will be harder for the party “to draw the distinction that many of us believe in” because President Barack Obama talked about Medicare cuts in the context of the budget deal. “So I think it’s going to depend on how strong a stance Democrats take or whether they muddle it.” Regardless, she adds, “it has the potential to be THE voting issue in 2012.”

If you really want to slow down the decline of this country, why aren't you paying more attention to this? What's our slogan supposed to be anyway? Vote for the cowards, not the sociopaths? This is supposed to get young people doorbelling instead of attending Occupy assemblies?