The punch behind Obama's new Medicare ad "Facts"

You may have already seen the Obama campaign's latest ad about Medicare titled "Facts."



What struck me immediately when I watched it is that it relied almost completely on quotes from the AARP.

Why is that important?

To understand the punch you have to remember that a little over a year ago, House Republicans thought it would be a good idea to attack AARP - the organization that represents nearly 40 million seniors.

Newly empowered House Republicans are getting ready to renew their attacks against AARP over its support for the healthcare reform law, The Hill has learned.

The Ways and Means health and oversight subcommittees are hauling in the seniors lobby's executives before the panel for an April 1 hearing on how the group stands to benefit from the law, among other topics. Republicans say AARP supported the law's $200 billion in cuts to the Medicare Advantage program because it stands to gain financially as seniors replace their MA plans with Medicare supplemental insurance -- or Medigap -- policies endorsed by the association.

The hearing will cover not only Medigap but "AARP's organizational structure, management, and financial growth over the last decade."

Notice that the issue back then was the AARP's support for the same cuts to Medicare Advantage that Romney has been attacking this week. As I said before, those reductions cut off the gravy train to private insurers (the Republican's constituency) while reducing premiums for seniors.

And while those efforts to go after AARP seemed to have produced nothing - you'll never guess who continued to keep up the charge...Paul Ryan's Super PAC.

Ryan's Prosperity PAC sought to push back on attacks by AARP against the House Budget Committee chairman's 2012 budget, specifically its proposed changes to Medicare.

"Last week, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), a left-leaning pressure group with significant business interests in the insurance industry, launched a national ad campaign that intentionally misleads seniors about the Medicare debate," wrote Pat Shortridge, a senior adviser to Ryan's PAC, in an email to supporters.

Of course any group that wants to stop him from ending Medicare as we know it MUST be "left-leaning." (LOL)

I'd suggest this recent history is EXACTLY what the Obama campaign had in mind when they made this ad. They're telling Romney/Ryan "bring it on" when it comes to this discussion about Medicare and practically baiting them to go after AARP again. They are very aware (as are the folks at AARP) that when it comes to questions about Medicare, seniors know who to trust...and it sure isn't the R/R team (otherwise known as vulture/voucher).

Oh, and I'm also pretty sure that this is chapter 2 in the Obama gives Ryan a death hug book. What a great read that one is going to be!