Lucy at Mustard Street found Kathy Hochul ducking the Democratic Convention, which is probably a smart move since her race in the Republican (R+7) NY-27 (formerly NY-26) is rated as a toss-up by Charlie Cook. But now that we have a contested race in Democratic (D+3) NY-25, the question is whether Maggie Brooks will follow Hochul’s lead and run away from her party.

We had a bit of a hint earlier this week when Maggie showed some sympathy for Obama’s immigration plan, but the real test will be the Ryan Plan. In her D&C interview, Maggie said she supports the Simpson-Bowles budget plan, without the tax hikes, which means she doesn’t support the Simpson-Bowles budget plan. (By the way, as those of us with a memory will recall, Simpson-Bowles was never adopted by the Simpson-Bowles committee so it was even more of a nothing than the nothing that committee reports usually are in DC.)

Republicans in tight races are throwing the Ryan Plan under the bus in West Virginia and Montana.  Here’s the language Rep. David McKinley (R-WV-1) used in one of his mailers:

“Congressman McKinley recently voted against the 2012 budget passed by the House because of the plan’s negative impact on northern West Virginia seniors,” the mailers read. “The plan would privatize Medicare for future retirees, raise the retirement age and keep in place the Medicare cuts included in last year’s healthcare bill. The Congressional Budget Office determined the plan would nearly double out-of-pocket healthcare costs for future retirees.”

Maggie’s brand-new issue page mentions that she’ll vote to repeal Obamacare to “restore Medicare”, which is an odd statement to make since Medicare hasn’t been diminished by Obamacare (a fact which has been fact-checked to death yet Republicans still claim it.) The real threat to Medicare in this election, as Maggie’s Republican brethren in West Virginia and Montana correctly identify, is a Republican House that will vote for the Ryan plan.