Lawmakers joined with Tea Party leaders on Thursday to warn that revelations that the IRS had targeted conservative groups could portend further abuses of government power, specifically in the way in which President Barack Obama's health care reform law is implemented.

The Capitol Hill press conference, which featured frequent references to Obamacare, happened hours before House Republicans were to hold their 37th vote to repeal or replace part of the law.

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, a Tea Party figurehead, argued that the IRS's efforts to single out conservative advocacy groups for additional scrutiny could lead to similar profiling in implementing health care reform.

"Could there potentially be political implications regarding health care, access to health care, denial of health care - will that happen based upon a person's political beliefs or their religiously held beliefs?" she asked, saying that asking such a question before the IRS scandal would not have been “reasonable," but that now it was.

"Will our most personal information be used to deny or delay access to health care? Or could it be possible that our sensitive information could be used to blackmail Americans or even potentially to embarrass Americans?" she continued.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a Tea Party darling with presidential ambitions (and himself a physician) added: "I'm quite worried that your medical records now will be evaluated by the IRS that seems to have the ability and seems to have the penchant to use political persuasion and political oppo to search out political opponents."

He also said that while acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller’s resignation was a "step in the right direction," more heads needed to roll.

"Someone needs to be held responsible, someone needs to be imprisoned," he said.

Jenny Beth Martin, of the group Tea Party Patriots, suggested the IRS had political motivations for targeting groups like hers, despite the recently-released inspector general’s report which concluded no agents were driven by politics.

"Government agents have used the IRS as a weapon to silence speech, harass innocent Americans and perhaps sway elections," she said.

But despite the strong words against the IRS and the Obama administration, Bachmann and others shied from calling for Obama’s impeachment, as Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., did over the administration’s handling of the attack on the American diplomatic facility in Benghazi.

"We also don't want to jump to conclusions. We want to go where the facts lead us and we aren't interested in creating our own facts contrary to some of our federal agencies," Bachmann said, though she added many of her constituents in Minnesota ask her, "Why aren’t you impeaching the president? He has been making unconstitutional actions since he came into office."

"So I will tell you what I’m hearing from people back home," Bachmann said.

The battle to define health-care’s implementation… Obama holds implementation event at 2:40 pm ET, while House Republicans hold another vote next week to repeal the law… When a talking point isn’t a talking point… The Gang of Eight sticks together during first day marking up the immigration legislation… Rand Paul speaks in Iowa tonight, and he represents the anti-“compassionate conservative” crowd… Bosom Buddies: Biden talks up his relationship with Obama… First Read’s weekly 2016 round-up… And grinding things to a halt.

Deborah Cannon / AP

President Barack Obama speaks during a visit to the Applied Materials facilities in Austin, Texas, Thursday, May 9, 2013.

*** The battle to define health care’s implementation: In recent weeks, President Obama has stressed the importance of the health-care law’s implementation at a Planned Parenthood conference, and he also argued at a White House news conference that implementation affects just a fraction of Americans (mostly the uninsured). Today, he returns to the topic when he holds a 2:40 pm ET event -- with women and families, just before Mother’s Day -- on the health-care law that’s fully up and running by next year. Per the White House, the audience for this event will consist of representatives from women’s organizations who “will help amplify the benefits of the Affordable Care Act for women and help us communicate … the benefits that are now available to them and their families.” This comes, of course, as Republicans are doing the opposite: emphasizing how chaotic the implementation will be. As Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said yesterday, “The president should rethink the purpose of this event. I hope he will use it instead as a platform to prepare women for the actual consequences many of them will soon face under Obamacare.” This also comes as House Republicans will vote next week to repeal the health-care. GOP leaders say this will be the 38th vote to repeal or replace parts of the health-care law (four of which were changes that the president signed into law), according to NBC’s Frank Thorp.

*** The name of the game: getting Americans to enroll: As we’ve indicated before, this is a different type of campaign and policy fight. White House will be doing events like today a lot more between now and April 2014 (the end of the enrollment period). The name of the game for them is convincing younger HEALTHIER uninsured Americans to enroll. Why? Because without younger healthier Americans, the numbers don’t work. As for the GOP, this is their last shot at stopping this law, and they know it. Once it’s in place and Americans are enrolled, they’ll have a harder and harder time trying to unwind it. Time is not on their side.

*** When a talking point isn’t a talking point: The news today on the Benghazi front once again puts the spotlight on Hillary Clinton’s State Department. The issue in question appears to be just how active the State Department was in trying to rewrite the talking points in the hours and days after the attack. Both the Weekly Standard and ABC News have versions of the same story, quoting specific email exchanges between the CIA, the White House, and State suggesting it was the State Department that kept insisting on revisions. While the politics of this continues to get ugly -- especially as it relates to conservative groups targeting Hillary Clinton, the latest is from Karl Rove’s American Crossroads -- every day creates more questions for Clinton’s State Department. So expect more Republicans to do what Speaker Boehner did yesterday (calling on the White House to release all emails related to the incident) or what Sen. Lindsey Graham did as well (calling on Clinton to come back and testify before Congress).

*** The Gang sticks together -- so far: NBC’s Carrie Dann covers the first day of the Senate Judiciary Committee marking up the Gang of Eight’s bipartisan immigration legislation. Bottom line: The legislation was largely kept intact. “As expected, Democrats on the 18-member Senate Judiciary Committee were joined by two Republican members of the bipartisan Gang of Eight in opposing the most stringent border security amendments offered by opponents of the bill, ranging from a massive influx of boots on the ground at the nation’s southern border to delays to the program that would make undocumented immigrants eligible for a probationary legal status.” More: “But the panel also adopted a total of 21 amendments, including eight proposed by Republicans. Those included measures to beef up oversight of the legislation’s implementation, offer greater flexibility to the Department of Homeland Security to allocate funds for technology and infrastructure, and include private landowners in a task force consulting on border security.” As leading opponent Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), said: “The Gang stuck together – as we’d been told they would – on anything that significantly impacted their legislation that they drafted with their friends.”

*** Enter Rand Paul: Still almost 1,000 days before the first votes in the 2016 contest, Republicans right now are split into two camps about how to move forward after their two-straight presidential losses. The first camp -- highlighted by all the George W. Bush nostalgia from his presidential library opening last month -- wants the GOP to return to “compassionate conservatism.” These are the people (think Jeb Bush, the Bush campaign alums, the RNC, and Marco Rubio) who support comprehensive immigration reform, believe the party must do a better job of appealing to minorities, and think there’s a role for government (albeit not as much as Democrats do). The other Republican camp largely found its voice in REACTION to the Bush years and President Obama. These folks don’t believe in a role for government; they’re suspicious (if not downright hostile) to military force; and they don’t think it’s a priority for the GOP to woo minority voters. Representing this camp is former presidential candidate Ron Paul and his son Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who speaks tonight at the Iowa GOP’s Lincoln Day dinner in Cedar Rapids, IA. You could call this second camp -- which includes Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) -- the anti-“compassionate conservatives.”

*** Can a small political machine conquer the GOP? Politico has a different story on Paul: Can his relatively small team have success in 2016, if he runs? “When Rand Paul touches down in Iowa Friday, it will be almost exactly three years to the day after his landslide 2010 Senate primary victory – an unlikely and decisive triumph over the Republican establishment that instantly transformed Paul into a national political phenomenon. Now, as Paul weighs a 2016 presidential bid, a different kind of challenge confronts him: Can the plain-spoken former Bowling Green ophthalmologist build a campaign to back up his popular appeal? For all Paul’s success as a media brand and a mobilizer of the conservative grassroots, the Kentucky senator has done relatively little since 2010 to assemble a political machine around his own personality. For now, the Rand Paul project is a high-wire act that works largely without a net.”

*** Bosom Buddies: In other 2016 news, Vice President Biden spoke to historian Douglas Brinkley for an article in Rolling Stone, and the gist Biden gives Brinkley: “Look at how close Obama and I are.” As Brinkley writes, “Never before have a president and vice president been as close personally and professionally as Barack Obama and Joe Biden – just think about the past 80 years. FDR switched out VPs with the regularity of a farmer rotating his crops. Harry Truman had little use for the lightweight Alben Barkley. Dwight Eisenhower never really trusted Richard Nixon... Of course, Al Gore and Dick Cheney were formidable presences in the past two White Houses. But by the time both of those men left Washington, their relationships with their bosses were strained.” Biden tells Brinkley in the interview: “I spend an average of four to five hours a day with him, every single day… Literally, every meeting he has, I'm in. You don't have to wonder what the other guy's thinking; I don't have to guess where the president's going. So it's been really great.”

*** First Read’s weekly 2016 round-up: After the Benghazi hearing Wednesday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D) landed back in the GOP crosshairs after a four-year hiatus... But she’s still leading potential GOP contenders Chris Christie (R-NJ) and Bob McDonnell (R-VA) in potential 2016 matchups in their home states, despite their over-60% approval ratings, according to new NBC/Marist polls... Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) took aim at Clinton on FOX and in a USA Today op-ed… The political world discovered that Christie had lap-band surgery, and he also told NBC’s Brian Williams: “I'll worry about the presidency if and when I ever decide to run for it. But if you're saying to me, how do I feel as a Republican? I'm a damn good Republican and a good conservative”  … Vice President Joe Biden (D) told a Sierra Club volunteer that he was against the Keystone Pipeline but, he added, “I am in the minority.” … Gov. Bobby Jindal’s (R-LA) voucher plan was struck down by the Louisiana Supreme Court … Martin O’Malley is dealing with the fallout of a prison scandal and he went nose-to-nose with the Dalai Lama. No word if he gave him a Flacco jersey, too. … New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) went on air with his “Clean Up Albany” campaign that sounds and looks like a message one could hear from a presidential candidate… And Paul Ryan (R-WI) criticized progressivism and again said Republicans have to do a better job selling their agenda to the nation.

*** Grinding things to a halt: Yesterday, we noted that there were some mixed numbers when it comes to measuring the state of the Republican Party’s brand. On the one hand, our NBC/Marist poll found the GOP with an upside-down fav/unfav in the crucial state of Virginia, 37%-53%, and a Pew poll found respondents blaming Republicans by 20 points (42%-22%) for failing to better work with President Obama on key issues. On the other hand, the same Pew survey showed the Republican Party either even or slightly ahead of Democrats on top issues like guns, the economy, and immigration. But here’s a legitimate question to ponder: Is the GOP’s full-scale obstruction is the best way to improve the party’s long-term standing? Consider all the recent activity, per CQ Roll Call’s David Hawkings: Senate Republicans have blocked Obama’s nomination to head the Labor Department, Tom Perez, from moving to the floor; Senate Republicans also BOYCOTTED a hearing to prevent advancement of Gina McCarthy’s nomination to lead the EPA; and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker John Boehner announced their refusal to name recommendations to serve on the federal health-care law’s Independent Payment Advisory Board. Several years ago, any of these stories would have been closely scrutinized news. Now? They’ve become routine.

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A Tea Party member reaches for a pamphlet titled "The Impact of Obamacare", at a "Food for Free Minds Tea Party Rally" in Littleton, New Hampshire October 27, 2012. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi

As the Obama administration girds for “glitches and bumps” along the path to full implementation of the health-care law, a new poll indicates many Americans are still unclear about the details of the new law and, in some cases, unaware it’s actually law of the land.

A whopping 42 percent of Americans do not know that the Affordable Care Act is, in fact, law. Included in that 42 percent -- 12 percent believe it has been repealed by Congress, 7 percent think the U.S. Supreme Court overturned it, and 23 percent are unsure of its status, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation health tracking poll.

For the record, no portion of the law has been repealed; and the Supreme Court upheld it last summer in a 5-4 decision. The law continues to be viewed more negatively than positively, with just 35 percent saying they have a favorable view and 40 percent saying they have an unfavorable one. But the prolonged implementation, complexity of the law, and messaging by opponents has aided in the confusion. The administration is starting to push back, beginning with the president.

“It’s still a big undertaking,” President Barack Obama acknowledged Tuesday in a press conference at the White House. "And what we’re doing is making sure that every single day we are constantly trying to hit our marks so that it will be in place. ... Even if we do everything perfectly, there will still be glitches and bumps. ... And that’s pretty much true of every government program that’s ever been set up."

The poll comes as the administration Tuesday took one step to streamline the application process for health insurance for the uninsured, unveiling a shorter, three-page application form rather than the earlier, 21-page version that was criticized. Enrollment begins Oct. 1 for insurance that would take effect Jan. 1.

Nearly half of all Americans – 49 percent – say they still do not have enough information about the law and how it will impact their families. There are plenty of people happy to try and fill in the gaps.

Republicans, for example, have begun mounting a messaging campaign against the law’s implementation, hoping it can help them in the 2014 midterms and potentially hand over control of the Senate to the GOP, which needs to net six seats to accomplish that goal. 

They have seized, in particular, on retiring Democratic Sen. Max Baucus’ comment at a hearing earlier this month that implementation of the law will not just see “glitches and bumps,” but said it will be a “train wreck.”

“I urge my friends on the other side to join with Republicans and stop this ‘train wreck’ before things get even worse,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, up for re-election in 2014, said on the floor of the upper chamber.

Views of the law have gotten worse since the presidential election, sliding from 43 percent favorable to 35 percent. Democrats are mostly responsible for the drop, as pre-election partisanship begins to fade and details of implementation begin to come into focus. 

But on Tuesday, President Obama –  in his most extensive defense of the implementation of the law so far –  said, “Despite all the hue and cry and ‘sky is falling’ predictions about this stuff, if you’ve already got health insurance, then that part of ‘Obamacare’ that affects you, it's pretty much already in place.”

What remains, he added, is getting the 10 percent to 15 percent of Americans who do not have health insurance, and who will face a penalty next year if they choose not to purchase it, to enroll in state or federal exchanges. The federal government’s job is also made more difficult, the president said, because big states like Florida and Texas, both states with Republican governors, have opted against setting up exchanges.

The “only impact” on people who already have insurance “is that their insurance is stronger, better, more secure than it was before,” Obama contended. “Full stop. They don’t have to worry about anything else. The implementation issues come up for those who don’t have health insurance.”

He added, "What we’re doing is we’re setting up a pool, so that they can all pool together and get a better deal from insurance companies. And those who can’t afford it, we’re going to provide them with some subsidies. That’s it." 

But the uninsured, those who will be most affected by the changes in the next year, are undereducated about the law, the Kaiser poll found. Fifty-eight percent of the uninsured said they did not have enough information to know how the law would impact their families.

By a 40 percent to 32 percent margin, more of the uninsured had a favorable view of the law. Nearly three-in-10 did not know or have an opinion on it.

“My assumption is that number starts shrinking,” said Molly Ann Brodie, senior vice president and director for public opinion and survey research for the Kaiser Family Foundation, noting that with more information on what the law actually does and how to sign up for it, the uninsured will begin to look more favorably on the health-care law.

“It’s going to be a difficult and confusing time,” Brodie said, noting the “tight time frame for enrollment.” She added, “Certainly, it’s going to be a messaging challenge and a framing challenge, but all the folks involved in implementation and expansion know that. The key is to focus on the folks who will be affected. … Let the political fight happen in the background.”

While opponents of the law will continue to message against it, Brodie noted that there will also be arguments from proponents highlighting positive stories.

“This will be a case where there are plenty of bumps and challenges to focus on,” she said, “but also some success stories – where people are getting care where they weren’t before. The question is which one wins from a political standpoint.”

Despite those “bumps,” “challenges,” and “glitches,” Obama tried to keep the focus on the big picture, sounding a note from his campaign.

"In a country as wealthy as ours, nobody should go bankrupt if they get sick," he said, adding, "We would rather have people getting regular checkups than going to the emergency room because they don’t have health care — if we keep that in mind, then we’re going to be able to drive down costs; we’re going to be able to improve efficiencies in the system; we’re going to be able to see people benefit from better health care. And that will save the country money as a whole over the long term."

This story was originally published on Tue Apr 30, 2013 3:42 PM EDT

As Republicans mount opposition once again to President Barack Obama’s health-care law, the president appealed to women and specifically Planned Parenthood for help in fighting back.

Mike Theiler / Reuters

President Barack Obama speaks at the Planned Parenthood National Conference at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington April 26, 2013.

"I am here to also ask for your help, because we need to get the word out," Obama told Planned Parenthood Friday.

Much of the Affordable Care Act will begin being implemented next year, including the unpopular mandate, requiring those who do not have health insurance to obtain it or pay a fine. The Supreme Court upheld the law in a 5-4 decision last year.

Republicans, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have begun a messaging campaign against the law’s implementation in much the same way the GOP did before the law’s passage in 2009.

“I urge my friends on the other side to join with Republicans and stop this ‘train wreck’ before things get even worse,” McConnell said Thursday in a Senate floor speech. McConnell’s up for reelection in 2014 in Kentucky.

The Republican leader’s use of the phrase “train wreck” was a reference to retiring Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana. Baucus, who ironically helped write and pass the health-care law, gave Republicans ammunition last week while questioning Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius during a Senate hearing.

"I just see a huge train wreck coming down,” he said. "You and I have discussed this many times, and I don't see any results yet."

Baucus, who was up for reelection in a red state in 2014, made the remark the same day he voted against the compromise gun background check legislation.

He announced his retirement just six days later.

Republicans have indicated it will use concerns about the law’s implementation against Democrats in next year’s midterm, hoping it will help fuel a takeover of the Senate.

“In 2014, ObamaCare will be a political tsunami.... and Democrats are terrified,” National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Brad Dayspring said in a tweet, part of a series of tweets messaging against health care and highlighting other Democrats’ concerns.

Republicans need to net six seats to gain control of the Upper Chamber and make McConnell majority leader.

During the first fight over the health plan, before it became law in 2009, President Obama was seen as the best messenger for it. There were few, if any, other Democrats who showed an ability to frame the argument in favor of the plan as well as Republicans who opposed it.

Health-law advocates, however, worry that the president will be consumed with immigration over the next several months into the fall, just as the behind-the-scenes implementation of the law will be taking place.

That’s one reason Obama is looking for allies, and there’s no better place for him to start than Planned Parenthood, a group that helped advocate for the law’s passage.

“Planned Parenthood’s not going anywhere,” Obama told the group, referring to Republican attempts to de-fund it. “It’s not going anywhere today; it’s not going anywhere tomorrow. … You've got a president who's going to be right there with you in that fight every step of the way."

This story was originally published on Fri Apr 26, 2013 12:30 PM EDT

With the Obama administration posing no objection, the U.S. Supreme Court today gave a Christian college in Virginia a chance to carry on its claim that the Obama health care law violates religious freedom.

Liberty University was among the first challengers of the law, arguing that two provisions violate its religious freedom -- the individual mandate and the requirement that employers provide health insurance or pay a penalty. The case was never fully developed, however, because the court of appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that the law could not be challenged before it went into effect. On the first time through the courts, the trial judge ruled against the school, but the appeals court said a federal law that imposes a tax cannot be challenged ahead of time.

Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty Images

Today's action by the Supreme Court does not mean that the justices think Liberty University is right. It simply means the court has concluded that the school should be given a chance to start over rather than leaving the question unresolved.

The Obama administration had told the court that it poses no objection to giving Liberty a shot at making its religion arguments, even though the government believes "those claims lack merit."

CHESTER, VA -- Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal came to Mitt Romney's defense today over remarks the Republican presidential nominee made Tuesday, saying he wouldn't seek new anti-abortion legislation as president.

"There's only one pro-life candidate running for president, and that's Governor Romney," Jindal told reporters. 

Tuesday, in an interview with the Des Moines Register's editorial board, Romney said, "There's no legislation with regards to abortion that I'm familiar with that would become part of my agenda." 

Jindal today went on to rebuff attacks from Democrats, including an Obama campaign conference call this morning pointing to Romney's past support for restrictions on access to abortion.

 "The reality is, its no surprise that President Obama would want to talk about anything but the economy," Jindal said. 

The remarks came after he and McDonnell visited a barbecue restaurant here in Chester, one of three stops today across a wide swath of eastern Virginia as the two men get out the vote for the Republican presidential ticket.

Recommended: Ryan says he feels 'good' about debate versus Biden

McDonnell said that Romney was signaling that his presidential agenda "isn't focusing on social issues." 

"Having read those comments from Governor Romney," McDonnell said of the Register interview, "what he was saying is, his overwhelming priority is going to be creating jobs, getting the economy back on track."

Both McDonnell and Jindal are outspoken on social issues and are fervently anti-abortion -- though when asked today they would not say they were disturbed by Romney's remarks. 

Republicans are likely hoping a strong debate performance by vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan in Thursday's debate against Vice President Joe Biden will shift the conversation.

Speaking to supporters earlier, Jindal -- once a much-speculated about contender for veep himself -- said he didn't want raise expectations for Ryan, with whom he earlier served in Congress.

But Jindal spoke highly of Ryan's chances.  "I don't think its going to be a fair fight," he said.

Pointing to sections of the interview in which Romney cites his support for cutting funding to countries promoting abortion, McDonnell said the "no legislation" remarks are being taken out of context. 

"Governor Romney's pro-life.  Pro-life bills that get to his desk, there's no question in my mind he will sign." McDonnell said.  

"He's pro-life, Obama's pro-choice, and now let's talk about the economy."

TOLEDO, OH -- Mitt Romney on Wednesday pointed to the health care reform law he enacted as governor of Massachusetts as proof of his empathy and care for the American people.

In an interview with NBC News, Romney referenced an element of his record he almost never invokes on the campaign trail to answer a question about how he can better connect with Americans and prove he understands the lives and trials of middle class Americans.

"I think throughout this campaign as well, we talked about my record in Massachusetts, don't forget -- I got everybody in my state insured," Romney told NBC's Ron Allen in an interview before his rally here tonight. "One hundred percent of the kids in our state had health insurance. I don't think there's anything that shows more empathy and care about the people of this country than that kind of record."

Romney's health care law in Massachusetts has long been a lightning rod issue for conservatives, who unfavorably compare it to President Barack Obama's own federal law and as a damning reflection on Romney's conservative bonafides.

The former Massachusetts governor also touched on another portion of his biography that he seldom discusses to connect with average Americans: his time as a Mormon pastor.

"I think people have the chance, who watched our Republican convention, to see the lives that I've had a chance to touch during my life, to understand that as I served as a pastor of a congregation with people of all different backgrounds and economic circumstances that I care very deeply about the American people, people of different socio-economic circumstances," Romney told Allen.

Taking the stage for the final rally of his two-day Ohio bus tour moments later, Romney also spoke about the importance of compassion in his speech and said his interactions with Americans from all lots in life have shown him the greatness of America -- and that everyone has challenges of their own.

"You look around, you see everybody, they look happy, and you think everybody else is doing just fine, and you're the only one with problems. But the truth is, most people that you see have some real challenges in their life of one kind or another. I understand that," Romney said. "And I've seen that inside the heart of the American people, despite our challenges, is a conviction that this nation is the greatest nation in the history of the earth."

Slideshow: On the campaign trail

Reuters, Getty Images

In the final push in the 2012 presidential election, candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama make their last appeals to voters.

Launch slideshow

NEW ORLEANS -- Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan received boos as he addressed the AARP convention here on Friday -- perhaps his most unfriendly welcome on the 2012 campaign trail.
 
Several members of the “Life@50+” Annual Convention crowd booed loudly as Ryan began remarks proclaiming, “Seniors are threatened by Obamacare.”
 
“The first step to a stronger Medicare is to repeal Obamacare, because it represents the worst of both worlds,” Ryan went on as members continued to shout. “It weakens Medicare for today’s seniors and puts it at risk for the next generation. First, it funnels $716 billion out of Medicare to pay for a new entitlement we didn’t even ask for. Second, it puts 15 unelected bureaucrats in charge of Medicare’s future.”
 
Throughout the Wisconsin congressman’s nearly 30-minute speech, he rarely received applause and instead heard people yell “You lie!” and “No!” to many of his claims of what he and his running mate, Mitt Romney, would do if they make it to the White House.

Bill Haber / AP

Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., appears at the AARP convention in Friday, Sept. 21, 2012.

Recommended: Obama's battleground advantage grows

The last time Ryan came close to getting this kind of a reception from a crowd was during his very first solo campaign event -- on Aug. 13 -- when he spoke at the Iowa State Fair.

Ryan's speech came immediately after President Barack Obama spoke -- via satellite -- to the same AARP convention, knocking the Romney-Ryan plan to overhaul Medicare.

“I don’t consider this approach bold or particularly courageous,” Obama said, per the Washington Post. “I just think it’s a bad idea. No American should spend their golden years at the mercy of insurance companies.”

The Romney-Ryan plan would transform Medicare by giving future seniors a payment -- Democrats call it a "voucher," Republicans call it "premium support" -- to purchase private insurance or to gain access to traditional Medicare.
 
Yet Ryan countered by giving one of his most in-depth descriptions of the GOP's plans to change Medicare, and he did it as he was joined by his 78-year old mother, Betty, at the conference.
 
“In order to save Medicare for future generations, we propose putting 50 million seniors, not 15 unaccountable bureaucrats, in charge of their own health-care decisions,” he said, drawing some of the only applause of the speech.

TAMPA, Fla. – Among Mitt Romney’s many virtues and accomplishments listed Thursday evening, one of his foremost achievements as governor – enacting sweeping health care reform – was noticeably absent.

Also missing from most of this week’s convention was any mention of the winding-down wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, two of the engagements that had largely defined the Republican Party for much of the past decade.

Two top officials from Romney’s time as governor of Massachusetts, Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey and Workforce Development Secretary Jane Edmonds, offered testimonials on the Republican presidential nominee’s behalf during the final night in Tampa.

Slideshow: Republican National Convention

But neither of them – and, really, none of the other speakers this week – so much as mentioned the landmark health care reform law Romney signed into law during his lone term in office.

The convention included plenty of promises to undo “Obamacare,” the colloquial name for the health care overhaul President Barack Obama pushed through Congress.

Joe Skipper / Reuters

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney takes the stage to formally accept the presidential nomination during the final session of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, August 30, 2012.

"We will champion small businesses, America’s engine of job growth," Romney said in his acceptance speech. “That means reducing taxes on business, not raising them … it means that we must rein in the skyrocketing cost of health care by repealing and replacing Obamacare."

“The president has declared that the debate over government-controlled health care is over,” Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan said in his Wednesday night address. “That will come as news to the millions of Americans who will elect Mitt Romney so we can repeal Obamacare.”

But the convention all but glossed over “Romneycare,” the markedly similar Massachusetts law that Obama has often cited as a model for his own health care law.

Similarly, Romney made no mention of Iraq or Afghanistan, nor did former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a major figure in orchestrating those two wars for the Bush administration.

The only major figure to really make mention of either of the wars was Arizona Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee.

"By committing to withdraw from Afghanistan before peace can be achieved and sustained, the president has discouraged our friends and emboldened our enemies, which is why our commanders did not recommend that decision and why they have said it puts our mission at greater risk," McCain said on Wednesday night.

Romney has struggled to distinguish himself from Obama in terms of how he would differently handle the two wars, and the economy is undoubtedly the prime issue of the 2012 election.

But the Massachusetts law has always been a more politically thorny issue for Romney, having almost tripped up the nominee during the primary fight, precisely for those similarities to Obama’s reforms.

“He is the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama,” former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum said in March of Romney because of that Massachusetts law.

Bringing up Romney’s health care law would, at a minimum, risk cognitive dissonance on the issue; at worst, its mention could stir an angry reaction from the conservative delegates gathered here in Florida.

But conventions are carefully scripted affairs that often help decipher what message a party will carry into the fall campaign. The Romney campaign made clear this week that the economy, jobs and Medicare will be at the core of this November’s election. But maybe not health care.

Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

President Barack Obama wipes perspiration from his face as he speaks Saturday in a sweltering gym during a campaign stop at Windham High School in Windham, N.H.

WINDHAM, N.H. – Speaking in a hot, crowded gymnasium here, President Barack Obama kicked off a day of campaigning in this key battleground state where he is running neck-and-neck with his challenger, Mitt Romney.

There’s so much on this issue, it deserves its own section.

This headline from Reuters might be the most important point: “Presidential campaign focus turns to Medicare, not jobs.”

“Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign is trying to stay on the offensive in the increasingly heated debate over the future of Medicare,” the AP writes. “Romney and his running mate, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, signaled Wednesday that they invite scrutiny of their plans for the health care program that affects tens of millions of seniors. Such a focus would thrust the budget proposal Ryan authored — which included a controversial measure to transform Medicare into a voucher-like system — into the center of the race for the White House… The debate comes as Romney’s campaign continues an effort to undermine one of Obama’s greatest campaign strengths, his personal likability, trying to portray the outwardly calm Obama as a man seething with animosity and power lust.”

“GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s new promise to restore the Medicare cuts made by President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul law could backfire if he’s elected,” the AP adds. “The reason: Obama’s cuts also extended the life of Medicare’s giant trust fund, and by repealing them Romney would move the insolvency date of the program closer, toward the end of what would be his first term in office. Instead of running out of money in 2024, Medicare says its trust fund for inpatient care would go broke in 2016 without the cuts. That could leave a President Romney little political breathing room to finalize his own Medicare plan.”

Yet here’s how the campaign responded: ‘The idea that restoring funding to Medicare could somehow hasten its bankruptcy is on its face absurd,’’ said spokeswoman Andrea Saul.

USA Today tries to set the record straight on the Medicare plans: To hear President Obama's re-election campaign tell it, you would think Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to end Medicare immediately and give the money to millionaires. And to hear Romney and Ryan tell it, you'd think Obama wants to fleece Granny and Grandpa of $700 billion in Medicare benefits and use the cash to finance ‘Obamacare.’

The truth is nothing of the sort — but those charges may drown out the truth between now and Election Day.”

It notes that Ryan’s original plan could have been characterized as ending “Medicare as we know it,” but not anymore. “The original budget plan written by Ryan and passed by House Republicans would turn Medicare into a ‘premium support’ plan. Seniors would have a fixed government subsidy with which to purchase private insurance — but the new version of that plan includes an option to retain traditional Medicare coverage.” But it adds that Ryan’s plan would make Medicare more expensive for seniors, “because the money seniors would get to put toward their insurance would be capped, while medical costs would not.”

It also points out of Obama’s “cuts”: “There are no cuts in benefits, and, in fact, seniors have already seen preventive services, such as annual exams and cancer screenings, with no co-pays. Instead, the savings comes by decreasing provider payments.” And: “Ryan's plan would repeal the health care law but keep the $716 billion in savings in place.”

And what about Medicaid? “Mr. Ryan’s budget is tougher on Medicaid, the big state-federal insurance program for the poor, which currently picks up the tab for a much of the nursing-home care of the elderly,” the Wall Street Journal writes.

The Wall Street Journal: “Paul Ryan Ventures Into the Medicare Debate.” The Wisconsin congressman did not discuss his budget proposal, which would use government-funded premium vouchers to subsidize the cost of private insurance plans. And he did not offer a specific plan from the Republican ticket beyond saying that he and Mr. Romney would protect and strengthen Medicare for today’s seniors and the seniors of the future. Instead, he argued that a second Obama term would mean drastic cuts to Medicare.” That’s even though Ryan’s budget assumes the same cuts.

Reuters: “Republicans gambling in taking Medicare issue head-on.” “The danger, according to political analysts, is that elderly dislike for Ryan's plan could shave off as much as 5 percentage points of voter support from the Republican ticket in closely fought races in half a dozen swing states, including Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania,” it writes. “Many Republican officials initially expressed misgivings about the Ryan pick. But a growing number now believe a powerful offensive could recast Medicare as a debate about President Barack Obama's unpopular healthcare reform law, a tactic that drew enough senior citizen support in 2010 to win a Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.”