nhboy
08-18-2012, 10:12 AM
Link to original source. (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/08/18/paul-ryan-trots-out-his-mom-to-defend-medicare-record.html)
"Paul Ryan Trots Out His Mom to Defend Medicare Record"
"Who better to defend your record on Medicare but your 70-year-old mother? Paul Ryan’s mother, Betty Douglas, will defend her son in Florida on Saturday—and Patricia Murphy says this is just the latest in a GOP trend of using mom when being accused of gutting Medicare.
Paul Ryan says he wants to have a debate over his Medicare proposals and, to prove his point, he is taking his show to the belly of the beast of senior hostility over the issue on Saturday—none other than the Villages in Central Florida, the largest retirement community in the country.
But Ryan isn't going alone. He's taking reinforcements in the form of his mom, Betty Douglas, a 70-year-old snowbird who spends part of the year in Florida's Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.
Taking your mom to work isn't the typical maneuver on an average day in politics, but for Republicans essentially being accused of elder-abuse by Democrats for their support of Ryan's past proposals to privatize Medicare and Social Security, the politics of showing mom by your side are powerful, and in some cases around the country, highly effective.
The upsides are obvious. Who better to vouch for Paul Ryan to the general public than his own mother, whom Ryan referenced in a 60 Minutes recently interview when he insisted he has no interest in leaving seniors to fend for themselves, as the Obama campaign has suggested, with the cuts he has proposed to entitlement programs. Another plus—seeing a candidate's mom on the campaign trail or in a political ad can give fellow seniors a powerful point of connection to the candidate himself, like another friend of family member.
But there are also downsides to sending your mom out into the wilds of a political campaign, including the risk of looking like you've brought your mother to fight your battles for you. "
"Paul Ryan Trots Out His Mom to Defend Medicare Record"
"Who better to defend your record on Medicare but your 70-year-old mother? Paul Ryan’s mother, Betty Douglas, will defend her son in Florida on Saturday—and Patricia Murphy says this is just the latest in a GOP trend of using mom when being accused of gutting Medicare.
Paul Ryan says he wants to have a debate over his Medicare proposals and, to prove his point, he is taking his show to the belly of the beast of senior hostility over the issue on Saturday—none other than the Villages in Central Florida, the largest retirement community in the country.
But Ryan isn't going alone. He's taking reinforcements in the form of his mom, Betty Douglas, a 70-year-old snowbird who spends part of the year in Florida's Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.
Taking your mom to work isn't the typical maneuver on an average day in politics, but for Republicans essentially being accused of elder-abuse by Democrats for their support of Ryan's past proposals to privatize Medicare and Social Security, the politics of showing mom by your side are powerful, and in some cases around the country, highly effective.
The upsides are obvious. Who better to vouch for Paul Ryan to the general public than his own mother, whom Ryan referenced in a 60 Minutes recently interview when he insisted he has no interest in leaving seniors to fend for themselves, as the Obama campaign has suggested, with the cuts he has proposed to entitlement programs. Another plus—seeing a candidate's mom on the campaign trail or in a political ad can give fellow seniors a powerful point of connection to the candidate himself, like another friend of family member.
But there are also downsides to sending your mom out into the wilds of a political campaign, including the risk of looking like you've brought your mother to fight your battles for you. "