W h en Paul Ryan produced his Medicare reform plan a little over a year ago, he was just a congressman from Wisconsin, but he had what his fellow-Republicans have had trouble formulating: ideas.

Ryan’s Medicare plan could be summed up in one word: privatization. But it created an illusion of big savings and used seductive words like “free markets” and “competition.” And when Mitt Romney elevated Ryan to his vice presidential pick, the Ryan Medicare plan, retooled with softer edges, took front and center, especially in a graying battleground state like Florida.