PALM HARBOR, Florida (Reuters) – There’s one small-government idea that Republican presidential candidates are reluctant to discuss in this retiree-heavy state: their plans to rein in health care costs for the elderly.
Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, front-runners for the Republican nomination to face Democratic President Barack Obama on November 6, both support reforms to the Medicare government health insurance program for the elderly that could help set federal spending on a sustainable course.
But the idea risks alienating the elderly voters who dominate the party’s nominating process and are happy with the current program.
“The last thing that I would do if I was campaigning in Florida is even hint that something might happen to Medicare,” said Mark Brewer, a political science professor at the University of Maine. “The word wouldn’t even cross my lips.”
In Florida, where the average Republican primary voter is 66 years old, that appears to be the case in the weeks leading up to the state’s primary on Tuesday.
AARP, a senior citizens group that counts 37 million members over the age of 50, has dispatched volunteers to try to get Romney and Gingrich to offer details of their proposed reforms at campaign stops. They’ve had little success.
“Given the age of the primary voter, we’re a