Romney has strong debate showing; Obama takes on congressional Republicans

Debate analysis, fact-checking about Medicare specifics and questions about other health policy positions all had a place in today's news coverage from the campaign trail.

Kaiser Health News has video clips of the debate and a transcript of the health care portions (11/10)

The Associated Press: Analysis: Romney Stronger Than Ever In GOP Race
With eight weeks left before Republicans start voting for a presidential nominee, things could hardly be going better for Mitt Romney. ... Romney, more so than the seven other debate participants, used almost every question as a chance to criticize not his GOP rivals but Obama's record on jobs, health care and overall leadership (Babington, 11/10).

The Hill: Cain: 'Princess Nancy' Killed Better Health Care Bill
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said Wednesday that Republicans already have a strong alternative to President Obama's healthcare plan, but "Princess Nancy" wouldn't let it move forward. During Wednesday night's Republican debate, Cain again plugged a bill introduced in the last Congress by Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.). Cain has said he bill is the blueprint for replacing Obama's healthcare law. Price introduced the bill in 2010 (Baker, 11/9).

The Washington Post: The Fact Checker: A Guide To 'Mediscare' Tactics, GOP Version
The mailer certainly looks scary, with bold headlines. "Obama's Medicare Plan Will Increase Medicare Premiums" says one headline, looking like it was ripped from a real newspaper. But then deeper in the flier it gets more specific … We have previously decried the "Mediscare" tactics of both parties. As it happens, our colleagues at factcheck.org and PolitiFact.com back in August looked closely at this flier and found serious problems with it. But we think there is still an opportunity to use this flier as an example of deceptive and misleading advertising (Kessler, 11/9).

The Associated Press: Obama: GOP Goals Would Hurt Women
An aggressive President Barack Obama declared Wednesday that congressional Republicans are more interested in dividing the country than in strengthening the economy and accused them of working to overturn advances achieved during his presidency... He said Republicans want to overturn the country's new health care law and would let health insurance companies once again charge women higher rates and prevent millions of women from obtaining tests such as pap smears and breast exams (Kuhnhnen, 11/9).

Kaiser Health News: Capsules: Does Herman Cain Want A State Takeover Of Medicare?
[O]ne of the candidate's recent policy proposals might merit more attention from the debate's moderators: Just how does Cain propose to fix Medicare's finances? During his health policy speech last week, Cain made a reference to Medicare that indicated that he either doesn't know that Medicare, the program for the elderly and disabled, is run and financed solely by the federal government -; or that he thinks it shouldn't be (Webber, 11/9).