On the campaign trail in South Carolina today Mitt Romney took a page out of Paul 'whiteboard' Ryan's book and tried to describe his Medicare plan via a whiteboard presentation. It is so amateurish it made me laugh the first time I watched it. It essentially amounts to a two 'columns', two row 'chart', Obama and Romney, with a few words in each 'box'.
Watching this pitiful presentation makes it nearly impossible for me to believe that Mitt Romney was ever a hyper-successful financier who made billions of dollars. It does however show what a slick salesman he is, artfully leaving out vital information while distorting what he does present.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney took to a white board Thursday to explain his plan for Medicare and to slam President Obama on the healthcare program for seniors.
"The president's plan cuts Medicare ... by $716 billion. Cut. In addition, the trustees of Medicare estimate that approximately 4 million people will lose their coverage under Medicare Advantage," Romney said in Greer, S.C.
The GOP presidential contender went on to say that under Obama's plan, Medicare Part A will go bankrupt for the next generation of seniors.
He exalted his own proposal, saying it would make Medicare "solvent."
Under his row, there is 'no change', even though Paul Ryan's plan does propose the same $716 billion in 'cuts' that they accuse President Obama of making, and Romney's plan has been both nearly identical and completely different to Ryan's depending on the time of day you ask.
In the second column President Obama's plan is 'bankrupt' while Romney's is 'solvent' (because it no longer exists I suppose). This is just the same approach Romney has used to prove that he has paid 13% taxes - he asserted that as fact. Just by virtue of him writing the word 'bankrupt' under the President's name, means it's now irrefutably bankrupt.
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Well that really clears things up, no?
Think Progress has taken on a 'whiteboard challenge' refuting Romney's claims but in reality, this presentation of his is so bare bones as to be meaningless and not deserve such a serious comparison.
Update: In the interest of brevity and clarity, the Romney campaign has issued a revised description of the campaigns' respective plans. (H/T to TofG)
UPDATE: The Obama Campaign's Rebuttal with a real plan: h/t middlegirl