Social Security - We Haven’t Even Started This Thing Yet…
March 3rd, 2005 | by Todd W |Republican Sees Shift in Soc. Sec. Debate
The media frenzy has been churning for a few months now, since Bush nominated Social Security reform as the centerpiece of his second term domestic agenda, and as one might imagine, the media focus has been overwhelmingly negative. Coupled with the assault by the Democrats and the AARP, initial public support has weakened somewhat.
A new survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press showed support for such accounts tumbling despite an intensive nationwide sales campaign by the president. The survey said the idea has 46 percent backing, down from 54 percent in December and 58 percent in September.
Excuse me? I know I’ve been sick the past few weeks, but I haven’t seen much of the President barnstorming the country, pushing the plan. There isn’t even a plan yet, really. A lot of proposals have been tossed out there, but nothing concrete has been drafted by White House proxies. Yet the media, and a lot of weak Republicans, are seeing an 8 point shift in opinion as a portent of doom.
What gives?
A ‘centerpiece issue’ implies a long span of time, covering a few years of the current term. Just last year, Social Security was the impossible third rail, and now after being on the table for two months, the critics are wailing that it hasn’t been solved yet.
I think the critics are engaging in a bit of ‘misunderestimation’ of the President. They’ve spent a lot of energy and time attacking a plan that hasn’t been formally proposed, staking out thier objections and positions that are quite clear for all to see.
And the President hasn’t even set up his pieces yet.
He still carries a lot of political capital, and his modus has frequently been a process of lulling the opposition to sleep before turing on the heat.
I don’t know if he will pull this one out, or if his capital will be sufficient, but I do know enough about the past four years to not count him out too soon. This is going to be a long, uphill battle, and to me he seems to be laying in logistics for a long campaign.
The other side fought a skirmish against a phantom enemy.
Stay tuned…
