Looks like Democrats turning tables on Republicans: Democrats Use Bush Social Security Tactics Against Republicans
April 1 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush began his battle for private Social Security accounts by targeting vulnerable Democrats. Now Democrats are turning the tables, using similar tactics to pressure Republican lawmakers.
House Democrats are holding town-hall meetings on Social Security in the districts of Republicans, including Jim Gerlach of Pennsylvania and Jon Porter of Nevada, who face potentially tight races next year. At least three events next week will focus on opposition to Bush's plan.
``I see a shift in the strategy,'' said Jennifer Duffy, an analyst at the non-partisan, Washington-based Cook Political Report. ``Democrats are playing the president's game.''
The change reflects the declining support in public-opinion polls for Bush's plan to let workers younger than 55 invest a portion of their Social Security taxes in stocks and bonds. In a Pew Research Center poll of 1,505 adults taken March 17-21, 44 percent said they supported private investment accounts, compared with 46 percent in February and 54 percent in December.
As the Democrats turn up heat on Republicans, Bush has switched from pressuring Democrats up for re-election in Republican-leaning states, such as Senators Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Kent Conrad of North Dakota, to shoring up support among members of his own party and traditional allies from states such as Alabama, Iowa and Kentucky.
``There's a lot of wariness on behalf of Republicans,'' said Dick Armey, the former House Republican leader who is now chairman of FreedomWorks, a Washington group favoring limited government.
``The president hasn't sold this notion even within his own party,'' said Representative Earl Pomeroy, a North Dakota Democrat who held a town-hall meeting in Minnesota Republican Gil Gutknecht's district on March 24.
Targeting Republicans
``Voters in those congressional districts think like voters in the district I represent,'' Pomeroy said in a phone interview from North Dakota. ``Social Security means a lot to these people, and they don't want their member running off to privatize the thing just because the president tells them to.''
Democrats plan at least three town-hall sessions in districts represented by Republicans next week, beginning with one on April 3 in Republican Chris Chocola's district in South Bend, Indiana, that will feature Democrat Jan Schakowsky of Illinois.
The districts are areas where ``neither party holds the comfortable majority of voters,'' said Duffy, who tracks congressional races.
Chocola, in a 2002 campaign statement, pledged ``no cuts in benefits, no increase in the retirement age and no new taxes,'' according Brooks Kochvar, his chief of staff.
System `Bankrupt'
Chocola's position has been consistent, Kochvar said. ``The system is bankrupt and we need to look at solutions to these problems,'' he said. ``He thinks we should explore personal accounts as one of the many options to help fix the problem.''
Representative Sander Levin of Michigan, who is leading opposition in the House to Bush's plan, is holding an April 4 discussion in the Pennsylvania district represented by Gerlach, who won his last two races with 51 percent of the vote.
Gerlach has ``slid from an anti-privatization posture to a more nebulous one after getting the squeeze from Tom DeLay and the president,'' said Bill Burton, communications director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. DeLay, a Texas Republican, is the House majority leader.
``I am concerned that privatization of the system would adversely affect its solvency for future generations'' and look forward to seeing ``how this solvency issue is resolved,'' Gerlach responded in a written statement.
Nevada Visit
Representative Hilda Solis, a California Democrat, is holding a town-hall meeting April 4 in Republican Porter's district in Nevada. Porter has said he's open to private accounts, while opposing benefit cuts, according to Ryan Temme, a Porter spokesman.
``We hope by the time they come back from the congressional recess, they will make their intentions clear,'' said Brad Woodhouse, spokesman for Americans United to Protect Social Security, an umbrella group for private-account opponents that is organizing the events. It represents the AFL-CIO, the nation's largest labor organization, and other activist groups.
According to Social Security Administration data, 17 percent of the people in Gerlach's and Chocola's districts receive Social Security benefits. That is higher than the national average of 15.8 percent. In Porter's district in Nevada, 18 percent of the population receives retiree, disability or survivors' benefits, according to the agency's data.
Lack of Commitment
``Republicans haven't been as united, and they have not made a lot of commitments'' to Bush's plan, said Duffy, the political analyst. ``So it's a little bit easier to go after them individually.''
Bush began his drive with trips to states represented by Senate Democrats including Nelson, Conrad and Max Baucus of Montana, whom the White House considered open to private accounts. In a Feb. 3 speech in Great Falls, Montana, Bush warned lawmakers that ``when the people really figure we got a problem, they're going to demand a solution.''
A month later the president was targeting states such as Alabama, home to Senator Richard Shelby, a Republican who has said he isn't committed to any particular fix. ``Woe be to the politician who doesn't come to the table and try to come up with a solution,'' Bush warned March 10 in Montgomery, Alabama.
Bush's shift was probably strategic, Armey said. ``He just made a tactical decision that we would do the suppress-the- Democrat-fire trips first and then shore-up-the-Republicans trips second,'' he said.
`Heavy Lift'
This week Bush continued to target Republicans who've been allies in other efforts, such as cutting taxes. On March 30, he traveled to Iowa after Senator Charles Grassley said in a public- television interview last week that a legislative fix for Social Security would be a ``very heavy lift'' and put its chances of passage this year at ``less than 50-50.''
After Bush rallied supporters in Cedar Rapids, Grassley gave reporters a rosier assessment. ``I'm gaining confidence, because of the fact that the president is working so hard,'' he said.
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