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The Democratic Strategist

Political Strategy for a Permanent Democratic Majority

Month: August 2012

TDS Founding Editor Ruy Teixeira: Public Wants to Keep Medicare the Same, Opposes Vouchers

New polling data indicates that the American Public strongly favors keeping Medicare the way it is and opposes turning Medicare into a voucher system, reports TDS Founding Editor Ruy Teixeira in his latest ‘Public Opinion Snapshot at the Center for American Progress web pages.

Last week we also received new polling on the issue and, as expected, the public continues to support keeping Medicare as it is today. Let’s start with their general support for keeping Medicare (or Social Security) benefits as they are: By 51 percent to 33 percent in a new Pew poll, the public thinks this goal is more important than taking steps to reduce the budget deficit.

Nor does the public have much sympathy for converting Medicare into a voucher system, explains Teixeira:

Moving on to the specific plan to turn Medicare into a voucher, the plan was tested by the recently released Washington Post/Kaiser poll. Respondents were given two choices: A) Medicare should continue as it is today, with the government guaranteeing all seniors the same set of health insurance benefits, or B) Medicare should be changed to a system in which the government guarantees each senior a fixed amount of money to help them purchase coverage either from traditional Medicare or from a list of private health plans. The public favored choice A, keeping Medicare the way it is today, by a strong 58-36 margin.

Teixeira acknowledges that conservatives are unlikely to abandon their voucher scheme, despite it’s weak public support. “But these data suggest that no matter how much they try to disguise the plan and make its changes sound benign, they are likely to meet a wall of public skepticism.” it appears that Democrats are on very safe political ground in their opposition to GOP voucher “reforms.”


Priebus Gets Told re Romney’s ‘Race Card’

In the clip below from MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ political talk show, ‘Hardball’ Anchor Chris Matthews livens of the proceedings by calling out GOP Chairman Reince Priebus on the Republican ticket’s campaign tactics and Romney’s playing the race card.

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All in all, it’s an excellent example of what serious political journalism looks like.


Ryan’s ‘Son of Toil’ Meme Dissolves Under Scrutiny

Kathleen Geier’s “What Paul Ryan has in common with Marie Antoinette” at the Washington Monthly puts to rest the myth of the blue collar cred of their veep candidate. Geier draws from an L.A. Times article, “Despite working-class image, Ryan comes from family of wealth” by Ralph Vartabedian, Richard A. Serrano and Ken Bensinger:

In the year after his father’s death, Ryan’s maternal grandmother set up the Ryan-Hutter Investment Partnership, which remains an important part of Ryan’s finances with assets of up to half a million dollars, according to the congressman’s 2011 financial disclosure statement. Ryan continues as the general partner running the entity for the family.
Court records indicate Ryan’s father left a probate estate of $428,000, though the number of assets existing outside the will or the probate remains unknown. Ryan was to receive $50,000 when he turned 30.
In addition to the Ryan-Hutter Investment Partnership, Ryan also benefits from another family entity, Ryan Limited Partnership, which was established in March 1995 by an aunt. Ryan’s share of that is worth up to $500,000. Ryan makes no investment decisions in either partnership, the campaign spokesman said.

The LAT piece explains, further, that Ryan:

…was born into one of the most prominent families in Janesville, Wis., the son of a successful attorney and the grandson of the top federal prosecutor for the western region of the state. Ryan grew up in a big Colonial house on a wooded lot, and his extended clan includes investment managers, corporate executives and owners of major construction companies.
…Ryan’s rise to political power and financial stability was boosted by family connections and wealth. The larger Ryan family has repeatedly helped the candidate along in his career, giving him a job when he needed one and piling up tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions.

Geier adds, “Not only did Ryan inherit wealth, he also made money the old-fashioned way: he married it,” and quotes again from the L.A. Times:

Of the Ryans’ maximum estimated assets of $7.6 million, Janna’s holdings account for about $6.5 million. She is the daughter of Dan and Prudence Little, two lawyers in Madill, Okla., who over the years have overseen a vast network of land and oil and gas mineral rights in the Red River area straddling southern Oklahoma and northern Texas.

Geier finishes off the GOP princeling’s scam:

…Paul Ryan, like so many Republicans before him, is one of those dudes who was born on third base and is desperate to persuade the world he hit a triple. Yes, like practically every other teenager of his generation, he worked a few low-paid service jobs for some pocket change when he was in high school. But for him to distort that experience and try to pass himself off as “blue collar” is a grotesque masquerade. Historically, it calls to mind nothing so much as the antics of Marie Antoinette and the ladies of her court, who from time to time would amuse themselves by donning shepherdess drag and play-acting at being pure and simple folk, modest toilers of the earth.

As Geier concludes, it’s good that not all of the MSM has been scammed by “this piece of outrageous bamboozlement.”


A Working America Message from the field: Coalition Leverages Akin Fiasco for Dems in MO

Note: Working America, the AFL-CIO’s community organizing affiliate with over 3 million members, is the largest and most active progressive organizing initiative operating today in white working class and lower middle class communities. Working America does extensive door to door canvassing and organizing, collecting unique data on the evolving attitudes of moderate and persuadable “Average American” voters. TDS will periodically share their “Messages From The Field” which provide unique insight into this key voting group.
Over the past week, we’ve found that people in Missouri are very aware of–and upset by–Rep. Todd Akin’s comments about rape and pregnancy.
We have 75,000 members in Missouri, and we’ve had some 8,000 conversations at the door over the past month. We’ve been talking to a targeted audience of persuadable swing voters in Missouri, in the suburban areas around St. Louis. In the neighborhoods we’ve visited, people are upset by what Akin said.
· Each of our canvassers in the St. Louis area is hearing people bring up Akin’s comments, unprompted, 5 or 6 times a night.
· Responses are strongly negative. The most common reaction is shock and anger.
· “I really just can’t believe any woman would vote for Akin after his comments,” one member said, and that sentiment came up frequently.
· We’ve had success noting that it’s not just women’s health he is extreme on. We were able to pivot to his stance on issues like Social Security and taxes.
We called the members in Missouri who joined over the previous week to find out their take.
· 79% of the people we called had heard about Akin’s comments.
· 63% of those surveyed reported a “strongly” negative reaction to Akin, and 27% a “somewhat” negative reaction.
· “Shame on him for saying that…I thought it was horrible,” one member said.
We also sent an email survey to members in Missouri. Our email list members tend to be more progressive and engaged, but we heard responses from voters across the political spectrum.
· 39% of members who responded said Akin’s comments made them less likely to vote for him.
· “While I am pro-life, the comment that Mr. Akin made–that women who are raped do not get pregnant as often because their bodies can prevent it–is so wrong that I would never vote for a person who believes and shares that error.”
· “Originally, I was in favor of Akin. However, his comment about abortion was just wrong, as was his comment about federal student loans being a ‘cancer.'”
· A few respondents said that they were upset and disappointed by Akin even though they still planned to vote for him over Sen. McCaskill.
Karen Nussbaum, Executive Director
Working America


Romney’s Religious Privacy Excuse for Secrecy About His Taxes: No Sale

In this video clip, Rachel Maddow reveals the hypocrisy of Romney’s latest rationale for keeping his taxes secret, despite President Obama having made 12 years of his taxes public. The Romneys now claim that they want to keep their taxes private because of their charitable contributions to their church. A Parade magazine article quotes them saying that “we had never intended for our contributions to be known. It’s a personal thing between ourselves and our commitment to God and to our church.”
But Maddow digs out 4 previous clips showing them openly talking about their church contributions.

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Romney still lacks a credible reason why he shouldn’t be as open, transparent and forthcoming about his taxes as President Obama has been. The media should hold him to that standard.