Republicans woke up Wednesday and began rapidly reworking their message on Medicare in the wake of a stunning defeat in an upstate New York special election Tuesday night.
With another potential setback looming in September in a House election in Nevada, GOP leaders are trying to counter attack by playing up Medicare cuts Democrats embraced in last year’s health care reform law. They’re also attacking Democrats for not being willing to do anything about Medicare solvency. And, not surprisingly, the GOP is trying to write off Democrat Kathy Hochul’s upset victory as an anomaly.
Across the board, House Republicans were both defiant and defensive Wednesday, yet behind the scenes they are warning their rank-and-file lawmakers to be prepared to aggressively justify their support for House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-Ohio) plan to turn Medicare into a voucher program.
“The lesson for Republicans is that if you voted for the Ryan budget, you better be prepared to defend it,” a top House Republican aide said on Wednesday morning.
Another GOP insider added: “It doesn’t change anything except for serve as a reminder to our guys this isn’t 2010 and they are going to have to get their [act] together to win these kinds of skirmishes.”
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