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August 12th, 2009 5:38 pm
Is the AARP running from its support of ObamaCare?

At his town hall meeting in Portsmouth, NH yesterday, President Obama again bragged about the AARP’s support of his plan for government-run health care.  The President proudly proclaimed to his hand-picked crowd of supporters:

We have the AARP on board because they know this is a good deal for our seniors.

Obama added,

AARP would not be endorsing a bill if it was undermining Medicare.

But hold the phone, folks.  According to the Associated Press and Fox News, AARP’s chief operating officer Tom Nelson moved quickly to correct the record, saying, “indications that we have endorsed any of the major health care reform bills currently under consideration in Congress are inaccurate.”  That forced White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs to backtrack, claiming that the President didn’t mean to mislead the American people.

AARP has been under heavy fire for appearing with Obama on numerous occasions in the last several months seemingly in support of the President’s health care plan — and by extension, the various plans being pushed by Congressional Democrats.  But with support among seniors  dwindling, it is no surprise the AARP is now seemingly looking for an out.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey released yesterday shows that a whopping 56% of those over age 65 are opposed, and 46% of senior citizens are strongly opposed.

According to the survey, overall opposition to the plan proposed by President Obama and Congressional Democrats has increased to 53%, up nine points since late June.  69% of Democrats favor the plan, while 79% of Republicans oppose it.  Telling, however, are the numbers for those crucial independent voters.  According to Scott Rasmussen, “Sixty-two percent (62%) of unaffiliated voters oppose the health care plan, and 51% are strongly opposed. This marks an uptick in strong opposition among both Republicans and unaffiliateds.”

Despite this, Senator Arlen Specter, one of those Members of Congress who was met by upset contituents at a recent town hall meeting, said today that the protests are not representative of America.  It’s sad, but that’s how out of touch Washington politicians and this Administration are with the rest of the country.

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