Obama’s Improbable Social Security Attack « The Washington Independent
Jul 31, 2020144.4K Shares2M Views
Sen. Barack Obama is opening a new line of attack against Sen. John McCain, his Republican rival, arguing that a vote for McCain could endanger Social Security as we know it. That’s technically true, but highly unlikely.
Last week, I reportedthat the financial crisis enabled Democrats to attack McCain on Social Security privatization — a largely forgotten issue that could “gain traction in swing states with large elderly populations.”
This weekend, Obama hit McCain on Social Security in Florida, a state with one of the oldest demographics in the country. Seniors make up 17 percentof the Florida population, and an even higher share of the electorate.
Obama warned that if Republican privatization plans had been implemented, over the past week “millions would’ve watched as the market tumbled and their nest egg disappeared before their eyes.” He also told voters that McCain “wants to gamble with your life savings.”
Even if you accept that characterization of Social Security privatization, though, it is unlikely that a McCain administration would succeed in privatizing the program. A GOP-controlled Congress could not pull off the task in 2005, coming off Bush’s reelection.
Any similar proposals would likely be D.O.A. in the next Democratic Congress.
Obama is still right to expose the pitfalls of McCain’s pro-market past. Neither candidate pulls punches when an opponent’s plan is unlikely to be implemented, either.
But these Social Security attacks are a bit like a Democratic version of the Republican attack on guns — even *if *a Democratic president prioritzed a huge federal crackdown on gun ownership, it would never get through Congress.
Rhyley Carney
Reviewer
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