Dems Harden Stance on Medicare After NY-26

The Hill reports:

Democrats have hardened their stance on Medicare since the program helped propel them to an upset victory in a New York special election.

Party leaders suggested as recently as last month they were open to changes in the entitlement program. Now the leadership, particularly in the Senate, say they won’t accept any Medicare benefit cuts — even policies that would stop far short of the dramatic overhaul proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and included in the House GOP budget resolution.But in the early days of Democrats’ attacks on the Ryan budget — before their win in the May 24 New York race — leaders said Medicare would be, in some form, “on the table” during negotiations over raising the U.S. debt ceiling.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a May 16 television interview that “Medicare is on the table.” Pelosi walked back those comments a few days later, telling The Plum Line blog that she wouldn’t accept benefit cuts.

Democrats need 24 seats to win back control of the House next year. And Republicans (if President Obama wins reelection) need only four seats to win control of the Senate.

Medicare proved a winning issue in the New York special election, giving the party a campaign theme for next year’s election. The party hammered Republican nominee Jane Corwin for her support of Ryan’s budget plan and its proposal to turn Medicare into a voucher-like system for those under the age of 55. She lost to Rep. Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.) by four points in a Republican-leaning district.

Almost immediately after the race was called for Hochul, Democrat after Democrat put out statements crediting Hochul’s win to the Republicans’ plan “to end Medicare.”

Polling seems to support the Democrats’ strategy.

Vice President Biden said last month that Medicare would be up for discussion in the bipartisan deficit talks he’s leading. Around the same time, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said he believed “there are other things we can do related to Medicare,” short of Ryan’s proposal to convert the program into a system with subsidies for private insurers.