Democrats are growing increasingly desperate in their attempts to foment public anger over Paul Ryan’s budget—but the anger just isn’t there. One of their latest talking points via Politico is that Ryan’s proposal is infuriating seniors and giving Obama a chance to capture their votes in 2012:
But Ryan’s plan, embraced by most Republicans, gives Obama a big opportunity in 2012 to regain lost ground in key battleground states and narrow the generation gap. “It finally gives us an argument to make with seniors… It’s a godsend,” said a Democratic operative allied with Obama who sees the issue as a way to make up lost ground with seniors in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Florida.
In reality, the latest Gallup/USA Today poll finds that seniors actually prefer Ryan’s plan over Obama’s. This makes sense, since the GOP proposed changes for Medicare won’t even impact anyone already over the age of 55.
The poll also found, interestingly enough, that Obama’s plan is overwhelmingly popular among people under the age of 30 – which probably explains why the president has been giving his recent televised budget speeches to young audiences.
Democrats will likely continue to demagogue on the Medicare issue in an attempt to win over seniors. But this poll disproves the conventional wisdom that retired voters are hostile to any changes to the Medicare system – and it even shows that Republicans have a head start on the budget issue with the 65-plus crowd.
