Can the GOP convince its base to back Medicare cuts?

A new poll finds that 80 percent of the country doesn't want to cut Medicare or Medicaid, including 7 in 10 Republicans. Does this spell doom for Paul Ryan's plan?

Activists rally on Capitol Hill last week: 80 percent of voters, including a majority of GOP and Tea Party supporters, oppose Medicare and Medicaid cuts.
(Image credit: Getty)

The centerpiece of Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) plan to slash the federal deficit is turning Medicare into a voucher system. It turns out, that isn't very popular. In a new McClatchy-Marist poll, 80 percent of voters oppose cutting Medicare and Medicaid, including 73 percent of Republicans and 70 percent of Tea Party supporters. In a new Washington Post poll, 54 percent of Republicans also backed raising taxes on the wealthy (Ryan's plan would slash those taxes). Can Republicans win over their own base on this unpopular, entitlement-slashing deficit strategy?

Yes, Republican voters just need to be better informed: "It's hard to get angry at the politicians when the public is so ill-informed," says Kenneth Durden at his blog. But this "entitlement mentality is the real problem in our country," and if we don't "re-educate the population" about the danger rocketing Medicare costs pose to our economy, we're doomed. So Republicans, "become informed on the issue," then we'll "try to change one mind at a time." It's doable.

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