Obama Would Better Handle Medicare, Swing State Voters Say in Polls
More voters in three swing states -- Florida, Ohio and Virginia -- say they believe President Obama would do a better job over the next four years in handling Medicare, according to the latest series of Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News polls, the New York Times' "The Caucus" reports.
Details of Polls
However, the polls also show that Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has made up ground on the issue in Florida and Virginia.
The polls -- conducted between Oct. 23 and Oct. 28 with likely voters in all three states -- found that 50% of likely voters in Florida favor Obama on Medicare, compared with 44% who favor Romney.
Obama's six percentage point lead on Medicare is down from as much as 15 points last month.
Meanwhile, Obama's seven percentage point lead on Medicare in Virginia is down from 15 points last month, while he maintains his 11-point advantage over Romney in Ohio.
Polling Data Among Age Groups
When the polling data is broken down into age groups, Romney fares better on the Medicare issue than Obama does among likely voters over age 65 in all three states, "The Caucus" reports. Obama retains his lead on the issue among likely voters under age 55.
According to "The Caucus," the challenge for Obama is that Medicare is a stronger motivator for older voters than for younger voters. Medicare was chosen as the top campaign issue by 20% of Florida voters over age 65, compared with just 3% of voters under age 55 (Cooper/Kopicki, "The Caucus," New York Times, 11/1). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.