Romney 'recalibrating' health care message, Biden attacks GOP on Medicare

News outlets reported that as Mitt Romney prepares for Wednesday's debate, which will include health care, Vice President Biden campaigned in Florida, appealing to seniors by criticizing the Romney/Ryan plan for Medicare.

The New York Times: Romney, Appealing to Wider Audience, Recalibrates Message
Candidates who emerge from competitive primaries -; as Mr. Romney did -; often find themselves forced to recalibrate messages and proposals initially aimed at partisan primary voters to appeal to more moderate general election voters.  ... when Mr. Romney was asked in an interview with NBC News this week how he could better connect with Americans, he pointed out: "Don't forget -; I got everybody in my state insured." At a rally that same day, Mr. Romney renewed his call to repeal the president's health care law (Cooper, 9/28).

The Associated Press: Biden, 69, Seeks Florida Seniors' Vote For Obama
Joe Biden may just be the perfect pitchman for the senior vote. Seeing Medicare as a window to gain new support, President Barack Obama's campaign dispatched the vice president to two sprawling Florida retirement communities Friday, hoping a white-haired 69-year-old running mate will be able to stir enthusiasm among seniors in Democrat-rich South Florida and tip the scales for the state's 29 electoral votes (Sedensky, 9/28).

ABC News: Biden Courts Seniors, Blasts Romney-Ryan on Social Security, Medicare 
He argued that that Romney and his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., would turn Medicare into "vouchercare" and increase the direct costs seniors would have to bear. "Rather than tell you, since their convention or even at their convention, what their position on Medicare is, they've gone out of the way and spent tens of millions – I don't know maybe hundreds, I don't know how much, millions of dollars – on advertising telling you what they say our position on Medicare is," Biden said. "All of you in this room know that President Obama has increased the benefits available to people on Medicare today by the action he took" (Saenz, 9/28).

Los Angeles Times: Joe Biden to Florida seniors: Mitt Romney would threaten Medicare
Biden has long been hammering the Republicans on Medicare, which he continued to do here by tying Romney to the plan once offered by his vice presidential pick, Rep. Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin. As he acknowledged that Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, has revised his initial plan, Biden said the debate gets to the issue of "someone's credibility" (Memoli, 9/28).

Fox News: 
The vice president said the "press accurately points out" that he cites Ryan budget numbers to hit Romney, but Biden doubled down on his offensive, saying it's a "fair" argument. ... "Can you imagine the president supporting a plan that would, under any circumstances, would raise the cost for seniors $6,400 your out-of-pocket?" he said, referring to a CBO estimate of the difference between projected health care costs in 2022 and the premium-support subsidy for an average 65-year-old proposed by House Republicans. As voices from the crowd shouted "No!" Biden continued, "So press, that's why I raise it" (Lin, 9/28).

NBC News: In Florida, Biden Assails Romney-Ryan Ticket Over Medicare, Social Security Taxes
[The vice president] did face persistent questioning on the Obama administration's health care plan when he stopped at Nestor's, a Jewish deli in Boca Raton. Steve Grossman, a 39-year-old who said he worked in the financial services industry, approached Biden as he sat down to order a tuna salad platter and began asking about health insurance costs. The vice president initially seemed reluctant to answer ... but he ended up offering a description of state-based health care exchanges more fitting for a think tank roundtable than a deli (Dann, 9/28).