The Hill News

Amid all the talk of a government shutdown, Democratically aligned outside interest groups started running commercials against congressional Republicans about something that had absolutely nothing to do with the government shutdown: Medicare.

This issue is where the Democrats hope to mount their comeback in the next campaign. This is where they believe Republicans are vulnerable to charges of hypocrisy. This is where they think they can best recapture the senior-citizen vote. And this is where they have a long and successful history of demagoguery that has helped them win elections in the past.

Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare in 1964 as part of his Great Society program. At the time, Republicans denounced it as socialism, but as the program became more and more popular, they changed their tune. If you can’t beat them, join them.

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