was good. one thing we have to remember with paul ryan, we don t know how the rest of the campaign is going to go. the obama administration and the campaign may be successful defining the medicare plan as something voters don t want and may not be working out but paul s notwon re-election to ruby red, gerrymandered district that republican can win. they vote for people statewide even for president. he created and established a relationship with swing voters and democrats not just republicans. he knows how to talk to voters like that. that could prove to be an asset. jon: the district that elected him last time, voted for president obama, i should say in 2008. david drucker, thank you. thanks a lot. jenna: as fighting rages in syria we ll look how a small group of regime loyalists may be working with russia to bypass international sanctions. what is happening with russia these days?
that s what we ll focus on as we get started here. jon: i m jon scott. governor romney is wrapping up his bus tour in ohio. that key battleground state has 18 electoral votes up for grabs. his running mate paul ryan is courting voters in iowa and nevada. six electoral votes up for grabs there. vice president joe biden is set to campaign in virginia. president obama expected to call on congress to extend tax credits for wind power in iowa. the obama administration s push to regulate new power plants. governor romney also facing some new questions about his plans to keep medicare solvent. as democrats try to move the conversation away from the economy and jobs and focus instead on congressman ryan s budget plan. make no mistake about it. these republicans don t believe in medicare.
now. this gone through several iterations. he changed medicare proposal from what he initially proposed in 2009 and 2010. jon: why are democrats so focused on medicare? because it the single issue ryan is so tied to? it is but look specifically to the state of florida with its 29 electoral votes, that mitt romney has to win that state if he has any hopes of beating president obama this fall. of course florida has a very heavy population of seniors, many of whom depend on medicare. and the idea that a republican budget proposal could dismantle part of medicare is a very important part of this debate. jon: well, i guess the question is, does it dismantle it? where does the truth lie in terms of what are proposals that ryan has put forward? one of the things that you will continue to hear from mitt romney and paul ryan is that medicare as we know it wouldn t exist for people under the age of 55.
the future. reporter: union leaders say, don t read too much into the situation involving charlotte saying that unions simply have less money on hand to donate this year and leaders say they would rather focus their resources on grassroots efforts and plan to make voter registrations the top priority. jenna? jenna: interesting. we ll have to wait and see how that potentially could affect the results. we ll have a few more weeks for that. shannon, thank you. reporter: you got it. jon: congressman paul ryan is spending his second day out on the campaign trail solo ever since he became the vice-presidential nominee as top democrats dig into his congressional record. although he is well-known as author of a groundbreaking federal budget blueprint his record over the last 14 years shows flexibility on hot-button issues. his votes in favor of the tarp program, the troubled asset relief program. the bush era medicare prescription drug benefit. and an early version of the auto industry bai
so there has to be a discussion about the future of it anyway. jon: wouldn t exist, meaning it is going bankrupt? that s correct. and they would, it would then force a discussion on the future of medicare in any case. what they try to say is that they, under their proposal, they would preserve medicare. and yet they say president obama with obamacare has taken $700 billion out of it. jon: well, and that is the question. i mean president obama hasn t really put forward a plan of his own, has he, to shore up medicare? that s right. but what republican strategists will tell you in the past, democrats have had the upper hand on medicare but they believe that throughout the 2010 campaign, they now can defend their own plan. it is hard to say. these questions haven t totally been answered yet but that is why we re going to have a debate over this for the next 80 some odd days. jon: i guess the republicans making a pick of paul ryan, governor romney is gambling that seniors can be taught,