From the "60 Minutes" interview with Mitt Romney:
Pelley: There is a lot of rhetoric about Medicare. What do you intend to do?
Romney: Well, I don't want any change to Medicare for current seniors or for those that are nearing retirement. So the plan stays exactly the same. The president's cutting $716 billion from current Medicare. I disagree with that. I'd put those dollars back into Medicare.
Pelley: Mr. Ryan has proposed something similar, almost precisely the same number, 716.
Romney: Yeah. He was going to use that money to reduce the budget deficit. I'm putting it back into Medicare and I'm the guy running for president, not him.
There you have it, in a nutshell. Mitt Romney is the guy running on a promise to spend $716 billion more on Medicare than either Paul Ryan or Barack Obama. To voters concerned about entitlement spending and the effect on the deficit and debt, the message sent is, "I'm not your guy."
