Obama spotlights new Medicare study in the Sunshine State

Vice President Joe Biden, campaigning in Ohio, called the GOP plan "Vouchercare."

Biden said the Romney and Ryan plan would force "Mom" to go out into the insurance market and look for the best deal she can find. If the plan costs more than the voucher amount, "They say, 'Mom go borrow somewhere' " to pay for it, Biden said.

Cutler's Democratic affiliations make him vulnerable to accusations of partisanship. But much of his data is drawn from studies by the independent Congressional Budget Office, which has projected even higher costs to future retirees under a 2011 budget plan written by Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican who chairs the House Budget Committee.

The budget agency said future retirees would pay more under Ryan's plan than if they went into traditional Medicare. By 2030, a typical 65-year-old would be paying two-thirds of his or her health costs, the agency said.

Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said the vice president's comments were "further proof that the Obama campaign is unable and unwilling to talk honestly or substantively about the most important issues driving the country."

Romney and Ryan were planning to be off the campaign trail Sunday, although both men taped appearances on several Sunday talk shows.

As the campaign moves into its post-convention frenetic pace, the Obama campaign also began to tar Romney with guilt by association, accusing him of embracing extreme partisan policies.

The campaign accused Romney of not standing up to "the most strident voices in his party" because he acknowledged Rep. Steve King at an Iowa rally. King is a conservative congressman from Iowa who has taken tough anti-immigration stances, including suggesting an electrified fence along the Mexican border.

"This man needs to be your congressman again," Romney said at an event Friday. "I want him as my partner in Washington D.C."

The Democratic National Committee followed with a Web video Saturday that concluded in bold letters: "Mitt Romney & Steve King. Partners in extremism."

Romney spokesman Kevin Madden brushed aside the criticism. King "has been supportive of the governor and he's come to a number of our events in the past," Madden told reporters.

The Obama camp again accused Romney of "associating with some of the most strident and divisive voices in the Republican Party," after a Romney aide told reporters that the GOP nominee "spoke briefly" with conservative televangelist Pat Robertson at a campaign event on Saturday.

Matthew Daly reported from Chillicothe, Ohio. Associated Press writer Thomas Beaumont contributed from Virginia Beach, Va.

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