Top Romney surrogate and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said Wednesday that Mitt Romney would provide "adult leadership" on the issue of Medicare, as the campaign sought to ratchet up attacks on the issue against the Obama campaign.
"This is an issue where we need leadership, adult leadership, where people are willing to put specific proposals and educate, not inflame," Pawlenty told Fox News. "And the president has failed to lead on this issue and just criticizes Governor Romney for his effort to save the program.”
Republicans have been aggressively hitting the president on the issue in campaign speeches and advertisements in an attempt to inoculate the Republican ticket on the issue after House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) selection for the vice-presidential slot. Romney has highlighted $700 billion in Medicare cuts instituted alongside the president's healthcare reform package.
Democrats, however, have pointed out that Ryan's budget proposal also included the same $700 billion in cuts, which came from eliminating subsidies to insurance companies and cutting waste and fraud — neither of which would affect heath services or benefits for seniors.
But Pawlenty forwarded a new line of attack, knocking a Medicare cost-control board created by the president's healthcare law. The Obama administration has argued that the board keeps consumer costs down, while Republicans have said it places unnecessary restrictions on medical providers.
"He’s also put into place now a review board, a government review board, that’s going to review payments in the future and so now you’re going to have a government entity further micromanaging the healthcare system and Medicare, and for a lot of conservatives and independents and others who like consumer choice and markets, that worries them," Pawlenty said. "That concerns them."
The Minnesota governor was also asked about being passed up for Ryan in the veepstakes, but said he thought all along he "could best serve Gov. Romney in other ways."
"It was an honor to be considered," Pawlenty said. "I’m not disappointed because I really didn’t expect that I would be selected for a variety of reasons, including my state of Minnesota, which I love and it’s filled with wonderful people, but it hasn’t gone Republican in a presidential race since 1972, which is the longest unbroken streak of voting Democrat for president of any state in the nation. And as to my future, I’m helping Governor Romney as a volunteer and I’m enjoying my time in the private sector.”
