Romney undermined his support from the only two groups he is winning
His margin among those 50 and over is just 1 point, his margin among those over 65 is 19 points.
These are the only groups that favor Romney right now. Strongest support is from *Medicare recipients*.
So what does he do? He risks those groups, with the pick of Ryan, who is closely associated with plans to eliminate Medicare and also the Ryan budget, to which many Republicans are linked thanks to voting for it just one year ago.
Ryan is *young* candidate who wants to dismantle Medicare. Even though he apparently says he will not change the program for those over 55, remember who his next strongest group is...50 and over.
And think these voters will be careful to understand the distinction? Well which candidate do the elderly NOT trust? Obama. Yes, the candidate that expanded Medicare coverage of their prescription medicines --benefits that are noticeably different even this year!
And remember when Democrats forced Republicans to vote for the Ryan budget. And it just so happened that Democrats maneuvered smartly a year ago to force Republicans to both vote for Ryan's budget (which would have ended Medicare).
Romney's version of strategery is not impressing me.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/04/pandemonium-dems-jam-panic-republicans-with-even-more-conservative-budget.php
In the House, legislation passes by a simple majority of members voting. The Dems took themselves out of the equation, leaving Republicans to decide whether the House should adopt the more-conservative RSC budget instead of the one authored by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan. As Dems flipped to present, Republicans realized that a majority of their members had indeed gone on the record in support of the RSC plan — and if the vote closed, it would pass. That would be a slap in the face to Ryan, and a politically toxic outcome for the Republican party.
So they started flipping their votes from “yes” to “no.”
In the end, the plan went down by a small margin, 119-136. A full 172 Democrats voted “present.”
Poll results quoted from (CNN): http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2012/images/08/09/rel7b3.pdf (page 16)