Scaring seniors

Harold Pollack lucidly explains conservative (lying) rhetoric and why it's been effective in making old people frightened and angry. After debunking the many myths purveyed by such medical experts as Betsey McCaughey, Dick Morris, and Pat Buchanan, he concludes:

The irony of yammering to seniors about the evils of government-financed care is always notable, as is the selfish appeal. In 1965, liberals enacted Medicare, perhaps the most radical social engineering project in American history. Some liberals believe that this was a strategic error, because it shrunk the constituency for truly universal coverage. I love my parents too much to go that far.

Unfortunately, Republican rhetoric hits a nerve with millions of vulnerable seniors who rely on large (and growing) public resources, and who understandably worry that young people will grow weary of paying the bill. They hear vague talk that health reform will cost $1 trillion-a number trumpeted without context or timeframe by most commentators. Seniors understandably fear that this will come from them. At a gut level, conversations about cost-effectiveness--even rhetoric trumpeting prevention-has frightening undertones to anyone beset with a costly chronic illness.

At a deeper level, these talking points go beyond the usual Medicare politics and pander. Seniors comprise right-wing talk-radio's core audience, but the anxiety extends beyond retired ditto-heads. A conspicuous number of scare stories pitched to seniors suggest that the main beneficiaries of health reform will be various frightening others. These listeners have endured dizzying social change, ranging from gay marriage to the rise of immigrants (legal and illegal) as a powerful political and demographic force. This predominantly white group watched an unprecedented youth vote fuel the unlikely ascendance of a black president with an Islamic middle name.

For millions of older people, America suddenly seems very different from the country they once knew. So when President Obama asks seniors to trust him as they trusted many Democrats before him, even his remarkable persuasive powers sometimes fall short.