Bush and Rove have miscalculated the elderly vote on Medicare...

[kentuck]

They are smiling like possums, thinking they have finally captured the Medicare vote from the Democrats, with their recent Medicare prescription plan. But the word gets around in the old folks community. They are not supposed to know that it does not go into effect until 2006. If they did, they would wonder why? They will see the little card immediately that will give them a discount on their drugs and it will be very much like the $300 tax break for the poor and working class. It is supposed to make them more acceptable to the Repub idea of giving away the store to the wealthy on the tax breaks and to the pharmaceutical companies and drug companies on the Medicare prescription drug reform. But it's pretty hard to trick some of these old geezers.

[sallyseven]

1. Trust me

They all know the Medicare bill is a piece of trash. They know that AARP screwed them and they are angry. Tons of them have supplimental insurance for prescriptions and are not happy that they won't be able to keep it. bush and rove did not fool them. They have been conned by experts and they won't fall for this piece of trash.

[Eric J in MN]

2. Maybe the move wasn't aimed at seniors, who will

Maybe the move wasn't aimed at seniors, who will do research and find out what a sham the bill is, but a casual younger voter, who will just think that Bush must be a "compassionate conservative" after all if he passed a Medicare bill.

Anyway, let's spread the word that the alternative to AARP is:
The Alliance for Retired Americans
http://www.retiredamericans.org/

[madaboutharry]

5. You make a very good point.

Younger voters with little understanding of how Medicare works will not see this bill as a sham. My mother lives in a retirement community and the whole place is up in arms. Even livelong republicans are so pissed off they swear they are not voting for Bush this coming election. I agree that Bush and Rove seriously "misunderestimated" the degree to which seniors understand "entitlements."

[alcuno]

3. What were the WP numbers out? I think I heard them on CSPAN.

Support was something like 30% for the country and from seniors; 22% of Democrats and 49% of Republicans supported the plan. Those are God-awful numbers.

I've lived in Florida and some seniors, God love them, will nitpick things to death. My parents live in a town where some seniors want to remove members of the County Board for instituting a $1/month recycling fee. $1/month!

Seniors did not want the country run into debt for prescription coverage. They wanted reasonable prices and help for those struggling. I agree with you. This thing is going to backfire.

[xray s]

4. Quite true

Bush and the Republican party are going to wear this turkey around their necks through the '04 election and beyond.

Democrats are going to run on changing all the bad parts of the bill.

In the end, Daschle may come out of this looking like a genius. Look at the alternatives.

1. Block the vote with a filibuster. Be labeled by Rove as the party that blocked prescription drugs for seniors.

2. Put up a fight, try to keep as many Dem fingerprints off the thing as you can, but let it pass without a filibuster. Now the Republicans have to explain how seniors can't get Medigap coverage because they want them to "feel the pain or else they may abuse the system".

This issue alone may win back the House and Senate.

6. My mother is a senior citizen

& nothing Bush does is going to get her vote, I guarantee it. Nothing, absolutely nothing.
& she lives in Arizona.

I'm just hoping there are more voters like her

[Cleita]

7. As a geezerette, you can be sure they haven't fooled me.

I've been on top of this health care thing for over a decade now and this is not something that is going to get old people cheering for the guys who are screwing them over.

You can be sure more old people than ever are going to vote and they will make sure they get their vote in the right place this time.

[Robbien]

8. I don't believe Bush passed this bill for the senior vote

He pushed for its passage to pay back his insurance and drug company contributors. That is why there is a no competing clause for insurance companies and a no price bargaining clause for drug companies.

[Kurovski]

9. yep, they pay attention. Do you think Rove will cry when Bush looses?

It's clear that Bush won't win.

there just aren't that many people in America masochistic enough to vote for such a clear loser.