As a physician running for Congress in the Philadelphia suburbs, Democrat Manan Trivedi frequently talks about Medicare on the campaign trail. But last week, the dozens of seniors and baby boomers who packed an event wanted to discuss little else.

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GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's selection of Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan as his running mate may have energized the Republican base, but it has also fired up the Democratic faithful who say that Ryan's proposals to revamp Medicare would end guaranteed health benefits for seniors.

In the week since Romney's announcement, Medicare has been catapulted from an issue that political strategists said could make a difference in close races to a central component of congressional campaigns nationwide — especially in states like Pennsylvania, Florida, Minnesota and Ohio with large numbers of older voters.