Republicans, looking for ways to turn November's congressional elections into a referendum on President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, are trying to portray Obamacare as a danger to Medicare. The aim is to court one of the biggest and most reliable voting blocs in midterm elections, senior citizens and people near retirement, by depicting Republicans as defenders of the federal healthcare program for 42 million seniors.
"You'd have to be a blind man in a dark room not to see the political implications of Obamacare in general and now specifically with respect to Medicare," said Brock McCleary, former polling director for the Republican National Committee. The strategy faces an early test in Tuesday's special US House election in Florida, where analysts say Republican David Jolly and his allies are using Medicare in an 11th-hour effort to create an Obamacare liability for Democrat Alex Sink among older residents who make up 45 percent of the local population.
Republicans and Democrats will sift through the election results in search for effective political messages that can be replayed in races including statewide contests in Arkansas, Louisiana and North Carolina that could determine whether Republicans gain control of the Senate. In both the 2010 midterm elections and in the 2012 White House race, Republicans sought to use Medicare as a campaign issue by linking it to Obamacare, but this year Republicans believe they have more ammunition because of the bumpy rollout of the health law that they believe has soured voters on the initiative.
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