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Sep 22, 2008

Washington Post - Social Security Makes Comeback

The financial meltdown is having an impact on political races up and down the ballot, as it adds to voters' feelings of insecurity and pushes economic issues front and center. But the crisis may be having another effect on House and Senate races by bringing back a vintage issue (circa 2005) -- Social Security.

Three years ago, Democrats had a big time tarring Republicans for their support of President Bush's dead-on-arrival Social Security plan, which sought to partially privatize the retirement program by allowing retirees to put their money in a variety of investments, including the stock market.

Now that the Dow Jones industrial average has been swinging up and down hundreds of points a day, Democrats are trying to repeat their efforts, reminding voters which Republicans backed Bush's plan.

In Pennsylvania's 11th District, where Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D) is fighting to keep his job, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is running an ad against GOP candidate Lou Barletta, featuring "regular people" calling Barletta "George Bush's friend, not mine." Barletta, they say, "supported privatizing Social Security. Too risky for me."

And in Illinois' 11th District, an open-seat race to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Weller (R), the DCCC has been sending out mailings accusing Republican Marty Ozinga of backing "tax cuts that put our Social Security and Medicare in danger."

Individual Democratic candidates are also attempting to attack their GOP opponents on Social Security, and DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen (Md.) predicts, "You're going to see a big uptick in this issue."

Barack Obama got in on the act Friday, asking attendees at a Miami rally to "imagine if you had some of your Social Security money in the stock market right now."

But Republicans scoff at the notion that Democrats will gain any traction on Social Security and suggested that Democrats were trying to distract from the real problems facing Congress.

"Clearly, they are not serious about finding solutions to this country's very serious economic challenges," said Ken Spain, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

And will a stray line from Obama, an ad or a piece of direct mail really serve to put Social Security back on the front burner, particularly since the major debate over Bush's reform plan happened three years ago? The Monday Fix will keep an eye on those polls in Florida.