Medicare working to boost Obama in swing states

Voters in three critical swing states broadly oppose the sweeping changes to Medicare proposed by Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan and, by big margins, favor President Obama over Mitt Romney on the issue, according to new state polls by The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Among seniors, the issue rivals the economy as a top voting issue, undercutting Romney’s appeal in Florida, Ohio and Virginia. Generally, the more voters focus on Medicare, the more likely they are to support the president’s bid for reelection.

A focus on Medicare as an issue also blunts potential fallout from Obama’s 2010 health-care reform law. [cont.]

Jon Cohen and Peyton M. Craighill, Washington Post