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“Ryan is a hero to conservative Republicans,” said Republican pollster Whit Ayres. “They see him as a brave guy who took on a program that is going bankrupt.” Speaking in South Carolina last

month, Romney reiterated support for Ryan’s ideas about how to reduce Medicare spending, calling them “absolutely right on. Give people choice. Let competition exist in our Medicare

program.” Last November, Romney unveiled his own premium-support plan, which like Ryan’s, would provide a set amount to people to purchase coverage. Romney has promised that future seniors

who like the fee-for-service Medicare plan can opt for that, instead of purchasing private insurance. He offered no details about how that option would work, however, and critics say that

capping the government’s contribution would likely mean that beneficiaries pay more for the same benefits. In December, the candidate embraced a similar proposal by Ryan and Sen. Ron Wyden,

D- Ore. Beneficiaries would be on the hook for paying the difference if they sought more expensive plans; however, Romney said that all health plans would have to offer coverage at least

comparable to what the program provides today. Supporting the Ryan-Wyden compromise has removed the “bull’s eye” target from Romney’s back that “Democrats had planned to use,” since he would

preserve traditional fee-for-service Medicare for those who want it, said Gail Wilensky, a campaign adviser to 2008 GOP presidential nominee John McCain, and head of the Medicare program in

the George H.W. Bush administration. Greenberg, however, doesn’t think so. She predicts Democrats will attack Romney in the general election for his statement last year that he would vote

for the original Ryan plan. “It doesn’t matter that he now supports Ryan-Wyden,” she said. SANTORUM, GINGRICH ENDORSE RYAN’S IDEAS Santorum has also been a vocal advocate of Ryan’s ideas,

and has made no effort to soften the House budget plan to appeal to a broader spectrum of voters, for instance, by keeping traditional Medicare as an option. “It is a plan that says

innovation with insurance companies and consumers drive down costs, instead of having this government-run Medicare system. ... You have Medicare driving the entire health care system in this

country and it’s crushing it,” he said last month in Iowa. But while Santorum praised the House Republican plan, Gingrich initially called it radical. "That is too big a jump. I think

what you want to have is a system where people voluntarily migrate to better outcomes, better solutions, better options," he said on NBC’s Meet the Press last May. Gingrich later

commended Ryan for partnering with Wyden to keep Medicare’s fee-for-service as an option going forward. President Obama, meanwhile, has spent the last two years trying to counter the

Republican narrative that the health law cuts Medicare coverage. He asserts the law slows the rate of spending increases, largely at the expense of medical providers and gives seniors new

benefits, such as free preventive services and lower prescription costs.