ROLLBACK RHETORIC—BUT WHO’S NOTICING?

Politico.com has a couple of related stories about the ongoing Republican opposition to health care reform.

The first is about lack of media interest in the GOP’s latest bill to repeal reform—a non-starter, obviously, but designed to capture public attention in the run-up to the November elections. Politico.com’s headline says “Spill Drowns Out GOP Health Message,” and notes that with public attention on the BP oil spill, there’s not much interest in an issue that’s starting to be old—except for the effective PR value associated with the mailing out of $250 checks to seniors whose drug expenses fell into the “donut hole.”

The Medicare D check mailing is part of the second story, too—a report of President Obama’s speech to seniors at a nationally televised town hall meeting that focused on the GOP threats of repeal of the benefits of reform, including—as well as the $250 checks—free preventive care, and new protections for the insured.

Expect to see plenty of Democratic ads featuring those checks as we get closer to November!