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The idea of privatizing Medicare is not winning popularity contests with voters. A Pew Research Center poll released Tuesday found that the public is aware of the proposal by GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan to transform Medicare from social insurance into a voucher plan. And among Americans who have heard of the Ryan plan, 49 percent opposed it; only 34 percent were in favor. Pew found particularly high disapproval rates among older Americans, and independent voters werent keen on it either: 49 percent oppose and 34 percent support it. Thursday The New York Times reported that the GOP plan is widely disliked, and also that it has become the third most crucial issue to likely voters in the key swing states of Florida, Ohio, and Wisconsin, ranking behind the economy and healthcare.

This is another in CJRs ongoing series of CJR Town Hallsconversations with citizens about the issues they are following in the press, and it will be the first of several Town Halls focused on Medicare. Part of the idea is to encourage journalists to do similar pieces, talking to ordinary people about dollars and cents issues and their needs and perceptions. Last week I was in Missouri, a swing state leaning red. My unscientific sample in St. Louismade up of white women, some of whom just turned 65pretty much lined up with what the scientific polls are showing.

Marie Cunningham and Janie Mueller

Cunningham, 65, and Mueller, 60, were on their lunch break, sitting outside the Bank of America Tower in downtown St. Louis, where they manage accounts for a property/casualty insurance broker. Cunningham, who recently signed up for Medicare, hadnt heard much about Paul Ryans planAre they trying to do away with it? she wanted to knowand then let Mueller do the talking.

And Mueller had a lot to say. She had read about Ryans ideas in the newspapers, and watched coverage of it on CNN and MSNBC, and has an idea of how Medicare could change: He wants to do away with what we know Medicare to be, she said. Im not in favor of it at all. Im extremely concerned. Her main worry: preexisting conditions. She believes that under Ryans plan, older people who have medical conditions may not get insurance. It is an issue worth worrying about, since no one knows what final legislation might look like, though pre-existing conditions would seem to be something such legislation would address.

Realistically when people into their 60s, their bodies start to fail, she said. Where are they going to get insurance? If Obamacare falls apart, we dont have the force to make insurance companies take them. Mueller is a Democrat and will vote for Obama, but she made clear that she views the issues independently, and also believes that focusing on tort reform would be beneficial in solving the healthcare cost dilemma. Tort reform is a solution pushed by the GOP.

Frances Flecke

Flecke, 55, was on her lunch break too, smoking outside the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis where she is the assistant manager for the Federal Reserve credit union. She told me she knew firsthand how the Great Recession has affected working families. I saw many families suffering. They were living off courtesy pay, she said, referring to a form of check overdraft protection that some banks and credit unions offer, which can be costly, but which allows consumers to pay their bills. I saw more people living off that than I care to mention, Flecke said. A lot of our middle class is now lower class. What they had has been taken away from them.

I asked Flecke how she gets her news. The media doesnt always tell you whats true, she said. What TV stations you watch are what you believe. You have to open your eyes or youll never have a clue. She said she sometimes voted as an independent, and I asked her what she knew about Paul Ryans plan. I would say its not a good one, she said, and proceeded to accurately described what the plan would do.

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The Word on the Street: Apprehensive