BOSTON -- All of a sudden, the jobs-and-economy election is all about Medicare -- for now, at least.
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is embracing a topic his party usually approaches gingerly. He is taking a calculated risk that voters' worries about federal deficits and the Democrats' health-care overhaul have opened the door for a robust debate on the solvency of Medicare, the insurance program for retirees.
President Barack Obama is welcoming the conversation, which has temporarily taken attention away from the weak economic recovery.
One party may regret its position on Election Day, Nov. 6.
Retirees in politically prized states such as Florida have resisted changes in Medicare, one of the government's most popular but costliest programs. But GOP strategists say today's voters realize Medicare spending must be constrained, and Romney is banking on disenchantment with Obama's 2010 health care law to pave the way for his own proposals.
Romney, who spent more than a year running almost entirely on the economy and jobs, put Medicare at the campaign's center when he chose his running mate: Rep. Paul Ryan is Congress' chief advocate of restraining entitlement programs significantly.
Ryan did not address his Medicare plan at a campaign stop in Glen Allen, Va., on Friday, a break from the previous day's events in Ohio, where the issue figured prominently in his remarks. But the Wisconsin congressman is expected to revisit Medicare in some depth in Florida today. He will meet voters in a retirement community north of Orlando. Ryan's mother, a Medicare recipient, plans to attend.
Romney's willingness to tackle the issue was underscored Thursday when he used a marker and classroom-type whiteboard to summarize his thoughts about Medicare -- but said hardly a word about the unemployment rate. He said his plan would keep Medicare solvent while Obama's would not, a claim Democrats call absurd.
On Friday, summarizing the political view from the right, the Romney campaign distributed a Wall Street Journal editorial that declared: "By governing so far to the left, Mr. Obama may have neutralized 'Mediscare' and made voters more receptive to center-right solutions. Medicare is already changing because it must."
Obama's campaign tried for months to tie Romney to House Republicans and Ryan's budget proposal that would turn Medicare into a voucher system for future retirees.
Obama's Medicare policies are outlined in his 2010 health care overhaul, passed without a single Republican vote in Congress. Polls show the Affordable Health Care Act to be unpopular in general, though many components, standing alone, have wide support.
The administration's plan for Medicare relies heavily on cutting payments to health care providers. Critics say that could cause some doctors to stop seeing Medicare patients.
The Romney-Ryan proposal would give future retirees a fixed amount of money to pick their health insurance from private plans or a government program. It would limit taxpayers' burden, but force many patients to pay more of their health costs.
Romney is using the unpopularity of Obama's health care law to try to finesse a political problem. Ryan embraced Obama's call for about $716 billion in Medicare payment reductions, over 10 years, a move Romney opposes.
Some Democrats seemed happy to have another campaign week go by with comparatively modest focus on the nation's 8.3% unemployment rate. The economy remained voters' top priority in the campaign so far, although several polls conducted before Ryan was selected suggested the federal budget deficit was not far behind.
A Pew Research Center poll in June found 35% called jobs the most important issue in deciding their vote, 23% chose the budget deficit, 19% health care, 11% Social Security, 5% immigration and 4% gay marriage.
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is embracing a topic his party usually approaches gingerly. He is taking a calculated risk that voters' worries about federal deficits and the Democrats' health-care overhaul have opened the door for a robust debate on the solvency of Medicare, the insurance program for retirees.
President Barack Obama is welcoming the conversation, which has temporarily taken attention away from the weak economic recovery.
One party may regret its position on Election Day, Nov. 6.
Retirees in politically prized states such as Florida have resisted changes in Medicare, one of the government's most popular but costliest programs. But GOP strategists say today's voters realize Medicare spending must be constrained, and Romney is banking on disenchantment with Obama's 2010 health care law to pave the way for his own proposals.
Romney, who spent more than a year running almost entirely on the economy and jobs, put Medicare at the campaign's center when he chose his running mate: Rep. Paul Ryan is Congress' chief advocate of restraining entitlement programs significantly.
Ryan did not address his Medicare plan at a campaign stop in Glen Allen, Va., on Friday, a break from the previous day's events in Ohio, where the issue figured prominently in his remarks. But the Wisconsin congressman is expected to revisit Medicare in some depth in Florida today. He will meet voters in a retirement community north of Orlando. Ryan's mother, a Medicare recipient, plans to attend.
Romney's willingness to tackle the issue was underscored Thursday when he used a marker and classroom-type whiteboard to summarize his thoughts about Medicare -- but said hardly a word about the unemployment rate. He said his plan would keep Medicare solvent while Obama's would not, a claim Democrats call absurd.
On Friday, summarizing the political view from the right, the Romney campaign distributed a Wall Street Journal editorial that declared: "By governing so far to the left, Mr. Obama may have neutralized 'Mediscare' and made voters more receptive to center-right solutions. Medicare is already changing because it must."
Obama's campaign tried for months to tie Romney to House Republicans and Ryan's budget proposal that would turn Medicare into a voucher system for future retirees.
Obama's Medicare policies are outlined in his 2010 health care overhaul, passed without a single Republican vote in Congress. Polls show the Affordable Health Care Act to be unpopular in general, though many components, standing alone, have wide support.
The administration's plan for Medicare relies heavily on cutting payments to health care providers. Critics say that could cause some doctors to stop seeing Medicare patients.
The Romney-Ryan proposal would give future retirees a fixed amount of money to pick their health insurance from private plans or a government program. It would limit taxpayers' burden, but force many patients to pay more of their health costs.
Romney is using the unpopularity of Obama's health care law to try to finesse a political problem. Ryan embraced Obama's call for about $716 billion in Medicare payment reductions, over 10 years, a move Romney opposes.
Some Democrats seemed happy to have another campaign week go by with comparatively modest focus on the nation's 8.3% unemployment rate. The economy remained voters' top priority in the campaign so far, although several polls conducted before Ryan was selected suggested the federal budget deficit was not far behind.
A Pew Research Center poll in June found 35% called jobs the most important issue in deciding their vote, 23% chose the budget deficit, 19% health care, 11% Social Security, 5% immigration and 4% gay marriage.