Monday night's presidential debate is set in Florida, and although it may be about foreign policy, one issue Florida voters probably want to hear about is Medicare.
More than 3 million Floridians—or 19% of the state’s population—are on Medicare.
Visiting the state this weekend, Vice President Joe Biden charged that Republicans want to "eviscerate" the program.
Romney campaign surrogate, Senator Marco Rubio, said on Sunday that Governor Romney wouldn't change Medicare for current seniors, only for those who are now younger than 55. Those future retirees would get a voucher that would allow them to purchase either traditional Medicare or a private carrier.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, if Congressman Ryan’s Medicare plan, on which Romney’s is based, had been in place in 2010, a majority of seniors would have seen their premiums shoot up.
The touchy subject could be why 51% of voters between the ages of 55 and 64 view it as “extremely important,” right behind the economy.
A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows voters believe President Obama would do a better job dealing with Medicare, 46 percent to 37.
But, interestingly, a poll of likely Florida voters, released last week, showed Romney gaining steam and in a statistical dead heat with President Obama.