On Monday, I laid out the Brer Rabbit strategy that I thought Team Romney was implementing.
Note: Pundits are now calling it “Political Jujitsu”
The essence: name Ryan and lure Team Obama into the Medicare trap … get them to repeat their claim that Ryan wants to throw granny off a cliff … and then bang … counter attack and put ObamaCare on the table.
Team Romney probably didn’t expect help from others , it got some.
First, a video of Erskine Bowles – you know, of Simpson-Bowles fame – went viral.
The video shows Bowles (a Democrat) praising Ryan and his budget.
“Have any of you all met Paul Ryan? We should get him to come to the university. I’m telling you this guy is amazing. … He is honest, he is straightforward, he is sincere. And the budget that he came forward with is just like Paul Ryan. It is a sensible, straightforward, serious budget and it cut the budget deficit just like we did, by $4 trillion. … The president as you remember, came out with a budget and I don’t think anybody took that budget very seriously. The Senate voted against it 97 to nothing.”
* * * * *
On cue, the Dem talkers started ripping on Ryan.
As soon as they did, Team Romney launched the counter-attack … reminding folks that Medicare funds were being raided to pay for ObamaCare … taking Medicare funds away from seniors and sprinkling them to others.
* * * * *
On cue, the Dem talkers denied that Obama would ever consider raiding Medicare.
Oops.
Tape on file shows Pres. Obama telling Jake Tapper of ABC that he would, he did, and he’d make it stick.”
TAPPER: One of the concerns about health care and how you pay for it — one third of the funding comes from cuts to Medicare.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: “Right.”TAPPER: Are you willing to pledge that whatever cuts in Medicare are being made to fund health insurance, one third of it, that you will veto anything that tries to undo that?
OBAMA: Yes.
* * * * *
That’s called “hoisting yourself by your own petards.”


