GOTV

February 25, 2005

Gloria Borger, US News and World Report: You had Democrats mostly railing against the individual accounts. Nothing happens in a vacuum. In Washington you had the interest groups starting to coalesce. The AARP, American Association of Retired Persons, which, you will recall, was with this White House on the prescription drug benefit, now fighting this White House on Social Security. They spent a few million bucks on newspaper advertisements. The old swift boat folks were back. You remember them, fighting against John Kerry. They were there taking on the AARP, of all things, which lots of republicans said, stop, it is really dumb to take on the AARP. We don't want to do that.

Those of us who read blogs know the real problem was a ridiculous advertisement that tried to suggest that the AARP was against soldiers and for gay marriage and somehow this has something to do with Social Security. Gloria Borger is assuming that Washington Week’s remaining viewers do not read blogs and know nothing of this.

It is very clear, again, this is going to be a tough -- it is very clear, Gwen, this is a legacy issue for this president. What is so interesting about this issue is it has not yet coalesced. It is fluid. The polls are all over the place. There is a late poll tonight that says only 30% of Americans support these accounts. Other polls have shown 50% of Americans support them. Public opinion is up for grabs.

It is clear the President’s plan is going down in flames.

Gwen Ifill, moderator: is it not coalescing because we haven't seen a plan, maybe?

Gloria Borger, US News and World Report: We haven't seen a real plan. We know a little bit about what the president is talking about. Also, I think it is a very complex and complicated issue. Also there is a real demographic difference in this country. The president said to people over 55, don't worry about it. Not going to affect you. And young people -- and they are opposed to it. Young people are either split or for some notion of retirement accounts.

Gwen Ifill, moderator: I read somewhere this week that one of the members of Congress went on to his home district and was greeted by young people who were chanting hey, hey, ho, ho, social security has got to go.

This is a grotesquely inaccurate account of a townhall meeting with Senator Santorum where the chants of Social Security supporters were countered by some very clueless young Republicans.

Richard Keil, Bloomberg News: The president will travel next week to New Jersey and Indiana to talk about what he is going to again be describing as the crisis in the social security system. We know the government's own numbers don't back up any crisis argument. The polls, perhaps more importantly, the polls show the people are not buying that either. He is going back to that theme. Is it going to work for him?

Gloria Borger, US News and World Report: It hasn't been working.

Richard Keil, Bloomberg News: Is he counting on the ad barrage from the Chamber of Commerce.

Gloria Borger, US News and World Report: He is counting on that. What is a crisis to somebody is a problem to somebody else. If you are 25 years old, you probably never thought that Social Security was going to be there for you anyway so you don't think this is a crisis.

Why would you think such a thing? Because for years con-artists like Borger has told you it won’t be there.

If you are 55, you might think this is a crisis. By the way, one thing that is interesting and I talked to some people who have come back from their districts, they say the town halls are being well attended by people over 55 whom the president said don't worry about it. Why? Because they don't believe him. And they believe that they will be affected by these changes.

Because people over 55 are, how shall I put this? not born yesterday.

David Sanger, The New York Times: Gloria, this leaves the president a little bit where he was before he left for Europe. He has a very good pitch of what the nature of the problem is.

Gloria Borger, US News and World Report: Yes.

David Sanger, The New York Times: He has a hard time making the case of personal or individual accounts or whatever we decided to call them solve the problem.

Gloria Borger, US News and World Report: because they don't.

So tell me Ms. Borger, why isn’t that the story?

David Sanger, The New York Times: How does he get past that? That and the AARP may be the boulder in the road.

Mr. Sanger, as a reporter, perhaps is it your role to insure the President can’t get past that.

Gloria Borger, US News and World Report: the president says in 2018 we have a problem. By 2042 we have a real problem. I'm taking this on, but --

There is no crisis.

Gwen Ifill, moderator: his partisans say the solution we have heard so far isn't going to solve the problem.

Gloria Borger, US News and World Report: That is the point. The retirement accounts are a really great idea.

Oh really? Great for who?

He is not saying we have a problem and this is the solution. He says we have a problem and as part of the solution this is a great idea even though it adds trillions of dollars to the deficit. I think he is really, you know, it is a very difficult case for him to make because it is ideological, philosophical and very long term because if you want to put a band-aid on Social Security to shore it up, people could get in a room and agree on how to do that, I think.

Why would we need a band aid to shore it up when there is no crisis?

Richard Keil, Bloomberg News: two questions. Is the boulder in the road the inevitably of benefit cuts

Why are benefits cuts inevitable?

and his real problem not a united Democratic caucus which to this point has shown no signs of cracking or the caucus with deficit hawk Republicans?

Gloria Borger, US News and World Report: I think it is all of the above.

Gwen Ifill, moderator: A big boulder.

May it be big enough to crush your sorry apparatchik career.

Gloria Borger, US News and World Report: And the president has a lot of trouble, as you have spoken about on this show, with his own party. The chairman of the House Subcommittee on Social Security representative Jim Mccreary of Louisiana made an innocuous statement about these retirement accounts and was descended upon the president's top economic advisors. He had to make a statement saying maybe we ought to take a look at this, right? I think they are having problems with their own republicans looking at the midterm elections, with the Democrats and it is a tough sell.

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