Democrats 'practically drooling' to use Medicare policies against GOP in campaigns

News outlets covered the congressional Democrats' retreat in Cambridge, Md. and a controversial ad in Florida, launched by a pro-Newt Gingrich PAC, accusing Mitt Romney of Medicare fraud earlier in his career.

The New York Times: Medicare Seen as Battleground Issue in Congressional Races
A Republican plan to remake Medicare, set forth in a budget blueprint devised by Representative Paul D. Ryan, has largely faded from public view. But it is about to come back in a big way as Democrats try to win control of the House by battering Republicans over Medicare in Congressional races around the country. House Republicans voted overwhelmingly last year for the "Ryan budget," which would give Medicare beneficiaries a fixed amount of money to buy coverage from competing private health plans. Democrats are using the Medicare issue to attack Republicans, just as Republicans used it to beat Democrats two years ago (Pear, 1/27).

The Hill: Democrats' Strategy On Medicare: Let Ryan, Republicans Step In It Again
Ryan last week announced that's he's eying the same types of Medicare changes in the budget he intends to propose this year. ... "We haven't written it yet, but we're not backing off on the kinds of reforms we've advocated," Ryan told reporters at the annual issues conference for House Republicans in Baltimore. ... Democrats are practically drooling at the opportunity to hammer Republicans once more on Medicare. "It's definitely at their peril," Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) warned of the Ryan plan. "It's surprising to me that they would double-down on it, but it seems they are." The Democrats sought to draw a sharp distinction between the GOP's Medicare cuts and the cuts included in their healthcare reform law of 2010 (Lillis, 1/27).

CBS News: Obama to House Dems: I "Have Your Back" 
President Obama rallied House Democrats today telling them "I believe in you guys." ... House Democrats were relentlessly on message over the past three days, saying that Democrats are the party looking out for the middle class while Republicans want to end Medicare as Americans know it ... However, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., said that Democrats won't be completely in step with the president on every message -- especially on entitlements like Medicare, which Mr. Obama has said he is open to changing to reign in long-term costs (Jackson, 1/27). 

The New York Times: Santorum's Attacks on Romney Health Plan Could Help Democrats 
If Democrats wants a step-by-step instruction manual for how they might try to neutralize Mitt Romney on the issue of health care, they might want to grab a transcript of Thursday's debate. There, they will find Rick Santorum's coldly efficient critique of Mr. Romney's health care plan in Massachusetts, in which he describes how little difference he sees between that plan and the one President Obama pushed through Congress in early 2010 (Shear, 1/27).

Related video and transcript from KHN: Santorum: Romney Wrong Man For GOP On Health Care (1/27)

CNN: Romney Faces Medicare Attacks In Florida
The morning after a heated CNN/Florida Republican Party debate in Jacksonville, a pro-Gingrich super PAC hit the airwaves with a television ad essentially accusing Romney of committing Medicare fraud. One of Gingrich's top Florida backers, former state Attorney General Bill McCollum, also raised questions about Romney's past service on the board of Damon Corp., a Massachusetts medical testing company that pleaded guilty in 1996 to billing Medicare fraudulently and paid a $119 million fine. ... "They have been thoroughly discredited by independent fact checkers and by respected Republicans like Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio," Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said (Silverleib, 1/27).

 Related, earlier story from KHN: Understanding Rep. Ryan's Plan For Medicare (4/4/11)