Republicans Pick A Target Demographic: Seniors

Sensing that President Obama has had a tough time selling his health care reforms to seniors, the GOP is going after that group with a Seniors' Health Care Bill of Rights, to be released today; Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele outlines it in an op-ed in this morning's Washington Post. A Gallup poll released late last month showed seniors to be less supportive of Obama's effort than any other age group. Setting aside the merits of the proposals--one of which is to ban the government from "dictating the terms of end-of-life care," e.g. no death panels--that seems to be the tactical genesis of the GOP's initiative: Obama is vulnerable among seniors on health care, and the GOP wants to seize that ground. Democratic National Committee Communications Director Brad Woodhouse, meanwhile, blasts the GOP's "feigned interest in Medicare and the plight of seniors," calling Steele and the GOP sudden converts to the cause. Steele's op-ed is, essentially, a smorgasbord of lies that seeks to scare seniors, the DNC suggests.