After Dem win in NY special election, group eyes NH race

A liberal group that wants to "keep the momentum going” after Democrats’ upset victory in Tuesday’s special election in New York is eyeing a race in New Hampshire where it thinks bashing the GOP’s Medicare reform plan could be a political winner.

In an email sent out shortly after Democrat Kathy Hochul claimed victory, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) highlighted Democrats’ chances in New Hampshire's 2nd district, where Anne McLane Kuster is hoping to unseat Rep. Charlie Bass (R).

Democrats are holding up the Hochul victory as a referendum, by voters, on Republicans’ plan to reform Medicare. The 2012 House GOP budget, authored by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), proposes to change Medicare into a type of voucher system for Americans under 55, and polls have shown it to be unpopular with the public.
 
As they attempt to win back the House in 2012, Democrats hope to pick up other seats by associating incumbent Republicans with support for the plan.

"The No. 1 issue in this special election? Medicare, and Paul Ryan's plan to end it! Shall we keep the momentum going?" the email continues. "Annie Kuster — the bold progressive House candidate running in a swing New Hampshire district — just went on offense with a hard-hitting op-ed holding Republican Charlie Bass accountable for voting to end Medicare."

PCCC co-founder Adam Green suggested Kuster could win her race because of her focus on Medicare.

"Annie Kuster's been very out front on this Ryan Medicare issue," Green said. "And her opponent, Charlie Bass, was one of the top Republicans highlighted in national news stories about angry town halls after he voted for the Ryan plan to end Medicare," Green said in an email to The Hill.

Other Democratic organizations have echoed Green's statement.