Crossroads GPS v. Pryor on Social Security and Medicare

Philip Klein writes at The Washington Examiner:

Crossroads GPS, an arm of the Karl Rove-founded political action committee American Crossroads, has dipped its toes into the keyArkansas U.S. Senate race with an ad attacking Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., on Medicare and Social Security. And it’s right out of AARP’s playbook.

The context is that Pryor has been hammering challenger Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., for backing raising the Social Security retirement age and voting for House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget, which would transition Medicare into a system providing seniors a choice of competing privately-administered plans.

Back in May, Jim Antle, writing for the National Interest, urged Cotton to go on offense onentitlements by making a positive case for the need to reform programs that are currently fiscally unsustainable.

Yet Cotton’s campaign has attacked Pryor for also having supported raising the Social Security retirement age. Granted, it’s perfectly fair to point out Pryor’s hypocrisy. But the Crossroads ad goes a step further, outright attacking Pryor for supporting raising the retirement age and voting to cut Medicare through President Obama’s health care law.