Paul Ryan to court Fla. seniors with mom's help

9:33 AM, Aug 17, 2012   |    comments
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GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan will be talking to senior citizens in Florida this weekend about Medicare, bringing his mother along as a campaign weapon.

The Romney campaign has been under fire about its plans to overhaul the popular health insurance program for seniors since Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, joined the GOP ticket last week.

In defending his plan to have private insurers essentially run the program, Ryan made reference to his mother, Betty Douglas, in a 60 Minutes interview on Sunday. Douglas, who is in her 70s, lives part of the year in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, a beach community in Florida's Broward County.

Ryan and his mom will be at The Villages, one of the largest retirement communities with an estimated 85,000 residents, on Saturday morning. It's been a must-stop for candidates seeking the votes of seniors.

ABC News reports The Villages of Lake Sumter, which develops these properties for seniors, donated $250,000 to Restore Our Future, the super PAC supporting Romney.

USA Today