RYAN'S CHALLENGE – AT 11:43 A.M. ET:  A good story from Congressman Paul Ryan's home district indicates the challenge he faces in putting forward dramatic cost-cutting measures.  People are concerned about Medicare, and the Dems will do everything they can to increase those concerns by demagoguing Ryan's ideas:

JANESVILLE, Wis. (AP) -- Brian Krutsch has been long one of many automatic votes here for Rep. Paul Ryan. The unemployed warehouse manager, along with a solid majority of other Janesville voters, has helped elect Ryan seven times and watched with pride as he became one of Congress' leading authorities on the federal budget. But this week, admiration has been tinged with apprehension as one of Ryan's signature ideas - ending Medicare's status as a full, guaranteed benefit for senior citizens - suddenly took a step toward reality.

"I think that's one of the things they should probably leave alone - you know - unless it's absolutely necessary," Krutsch said as he took a break from reviewing job openings at the Rock County Job Center. "Old people need help with medical bills. There's too many people under-insured right now - especially people like myself right now who don't have insurance."

Changing Medicare has become a hot topic around town, and the qualms underscore why many officeholders are wary of talking about it.

No one in Janesville can be surprised by Ryan's ideas for reining in government spending. The cerebral, soft-spoken congressman has been explaining and diagramming his proposals at community meetings for years. But this week House Republicans gave Ryan's plan a high-profile show of support in a televised press conference, ensuring that it will be a key issue in the 2012 election even if the measure goes no further in Congress this year.

COMMENT:  And what will the Democrats say?  You know what they'll say.  They'll say that Paul Ryan wants to take Medicare away from you, while favoring tax cuts for the rich.  They will say it over and over, and they'll make it stick with many frightened voters.

It's not a new line.  When Nixon ran against Kennedy in 1960, the Dems – and I was one of them at the time – spread the message that Republicans wanted to take away Social Security.  It was false, of course, and former Republican presidential candidate Thomas E. Dewey went on TV to assure Americans that the GOP had no such plans.  But some voters were swayed.

As we said earlier today, a Paul Ryan moment is approaching, and the press will not be on Ryan's side.  If he triumphs, there is no end to his political possibilities.  If he's destroyed, he will join a long list who tried to take on the scare merchants.

April 10, 2011