The AARP has seen Republicans' pitch for senior support on health care, and it has not been won over to the GOP's vision of ObamaCare.

Republicans are making a health care pitch to seniors, floating a "Seniors' Health Care Bill of Rights" in an op-ed penned by Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele in the Washington Post yesterday, most likely seizing on the fact that Obama has struggled to woo seniors to his plan and seeking to galvanize a voting bloc against the president's plan. A Gallup poll released late last month showed seniors to be the least likely age group to support health care reform, with many thinking it will reduce their access to care and raise costs.



But the AARP, one of the more powerful lobbying groups in DC, especially on health care, thanked and agreed with Steele on the points of his Bill of Rights--such as no cutting of Medicare and no "dictating the terms of end-of-life care--and said the proposals from President Obama don't threaten to do any of the things Steele suggests seniors should be worried about.

"We are pleased nothing in the bills would bring about the type of scenarios the RNC is concerned about," AARP says.

Opponents of Obama's reforms say they'll cut Medicare; Democrats insist Medicare spending would only be lowered through cutting waste. Based on what it's seen so far, AARP is fully on board with Democrats here: "Nothing we've seen in these bills would cut Medicare benefits," an AARP official said; in a full statement yesterday, the group stressed how Obama's reforms would help Medicare.