Ryan makes his pitch to voters tonight

The 42-year-old Wisconsin representative will be making the case that he is ready to be vice president, and may highlight aspects of his budget plans, which would revamp both Medicare and Medicaid.

Kaiser Health News: Paul Ryan On Health Care
By choosing Wis. Rep. Paul Ryan to be his running mate, presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney has put Medicare on the table as a major 2012 campaign issue. Here's a summary of Ryan's record on health care and his proposals for Medicare (8/28).

Los Angeles Times: Ryan Falls In Line With Romney
Among the most common adjectives used by supporters to describe Rep. Paul D. Ryan are "genuine" and "principled." ... In the last two weeks, however, that sense of unshakable conviction has been put to the test as Ryan -; who speaks at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night -; has been forced to modify his positions on such key issues as abortion, Medicare and military spending, subsuming his own beliefs to those of his running mate and new boss, Mitt Romney. It is a conundrum that faces almost every candidate for vice president, and opens them to attacks from opponents (Landsberg, 8/29).

USA Today: Paul Ryan Aims To Convince Voters Of Readiness
After 14 years in Congress, Paul Ryan has become the Republican Party's brand name for conservative economic policies: low taxes, reduced spending and entitlement reform, all wrapped into a GOP budget plan that bears his name. As he prepares to give the most important speech of his career tonight as the Republican nominee for vice president and introduce himself to millions of Americans, the 42-year-old congressman from Wisconsin must sell voters on a different proposition: his own readiness to become president of the United States. ... Ryan authored the Republican budget plan passed by the House earlier this year that included deep spending cuts and a restructuring of Medicare that has become a flashpoint of debate in the political campaign season. "From that standpoint, he's at least in the ballpark" of the kind of experience voters expect a vice president to have, (Joel) Goldstein said (Korte, 8/29).

The Wall Street Journal: McCarthy: Romney Win Would Be Mandate To Revamp Medicare
A victory by Mitt Romney in November would provide a mandate to enact a Medicare  overhaul to prevent the health care program from going bankrupt in a little more than a decade, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) said. The No. 3 House Republican told a group of reporters Tuesday that a Romney administration would be able to pursue the sort of radical shakeup outlined by Mr. Romney's running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.). "It goes to what the election is all about," said Mr. McCarthy, who is in Tampa for the Republican National Convention. "If there's a mandate going through this election, it's to save Medicare" (Boles, 8/28).

The GOP's plan for Medicare does not seem to be hurting the cause in Florida.

Politico: No Kaboom From Ryan Medicare Bomb
Democrats thought Paul Ryan's Medicare proposal would shift the focus away from Mitt Romney, terrify the elderly and take places like Florida and other key states off the table. That's not happening. Not yet, anyway (Dovere and Nather, 8/29).

The Wall Street Journal: For Romney, Florida Win Is Key
Matthew Corrigan, chairman of the political science and public administration department at the University of North Florida, said Mr. Romney needs to energize social conservatives and tea-party supporters concentrated in the northern and southwestern parts of the state, a task helped by his choice of Mr. Ryan as running mate. He also has to win independents in central Florida, which he hopes to accomplish by touting his business credentials, Mr. Corrigan said. Mr. Ryan's proposals to revamp Medicare raised the prospect that the Romney campaign would lose ground with Florida's seniors, who make up roughly a quarter of the electorate. But recent polling suggests Mr. Romney is holding on to a significant lead among that group (Campo-Flores, 8/28).

The Washington Post criticizes charges that Romney and Ryan have made about President Barack Obama's efforts on Medicare, as well as Democratic attacks about Ryan's plan to overhaul Medicare.

The Washington Post: The Fact Checker: Answering Readers' Questions About Medicare
We returned from vacation to find lots of questions from readers about Medicare. The two campaigns have been engaged in a tit-for-tat war of words that, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll, appears to have resulted in a draw so far. For the moment, we will not delve into the details of those ads except to note with amusement this new Romney ad that accurately quotes Obama from four years ago.   Perhaps one reason why the Medicare fight has resulted in a draw is because both parties have played rhetorical games with the old-age health program (Kessler, 8/28).