WSJ: Social Security May Cost Santorum His Job

Social Security May Cost Santorum His Job

Democrats Target Pennsylvania Senator Over His Longtime Support for Private Accounts

By JACKIE CALMES
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
May 12, 2005; Page A4

Pennsylvania is second only to Florida in its large proportion of senior citizens. "And all the rich ones have moved to Florida," says an aide to one of the state's senators, Rick Santorum. In other words, many Pennsylvanians don't simply like Social Security, they need it, or know someone who does. So as President Bush campaigns to remake the popular program, no Republican facing re-election next year has a bigger bull's-eye on his back for Democrats than Mr. Santorum. Despite hailing from a state that last year went for Democrat John Kerry, Mr. Santorum, the Senate Republicans' third-ranking leader and a nationally recognized conservative with White House ambitions, has emerged as the president's biggest backer on Social Security.

(snip)

Mr. Santorum is a member of the Finance Committee responsible for the program, and chairman of its Social Security subcommittee. Probably no Republican other than Mr. Bush has held more public events on the issue, though Mr. Santorum -- lacking the president's security cordon -- has cut back after state-wide appearances in February drew protests by groups such as MoveOn.org and AARP. And no one has privately pressed harder for wary Republicans in Congress to stick by the president and his private-accounts proposal -- and even to go for larger accounts.

(snip)

Behind the scenes, Mr. Santorum has lobbied the White House to not only seek larger private accounts, but to do so without some benefit reductions. Instead, he would borrow trillions of dollars more upfront -- in what critics deride as the "free-lunch" approach. Also, at every stop in his state, Mr. Santorum begins -- like Mr. Bush -- by emphasizing that no one over 55 will see any change in promised benefits in any case. But the Casey campaign is on the attack.

(snip)

Mr. Santorum, known for his antiabortion and right-to-life stands, was at the center of the Schiavo story, even stopping by the brain-damaged woman's hospice during a previously planned fund-raising trip to Florida. "There is no way that issue is going to matter in November 2006," Mr. Brabender says, because it "doesn't touch anybody's life personally." But Democrats say that both the Schiavo and Social Security sagas play to their theme that Mr. Santorum is too far to the right for Pennsylvania. "This race is as simple as 'Is Santorum too extreme?' " predicts political analyst Jennifer Duffy of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. "I always felt Santorum was underestimated," she adds, "but this is definitely the race of his life."

Write to Jackie Calmes at jackie.calmes@wsj.com

URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111586247315331368,00.html

whoever that guy is that is supposedly running against him, and down big time.

Yes, Casey. Son of former popular governor

Sorry, cannot post the graph only but it is striking

Either kkkarl has promised something BIG if he loses or PA has BBV (which it didn't when we moved to Maine 3 years ago).

you know that Santorum will have an amazing, come-from-behind, exit-poll defying victory on election day.

I'd really like to think that some of the extremism we've witnessed lately - especially since the beginning of the chimp's second term - will result in the downfall of the neocons. People can't be that stupid forever, right? That's a rhetorical question, of course. :P

Programs like social security are too popular, and people don't like them being messed with. There seems to be a mass awakening beginning, and I hope it won't be destroyed by something to rally them again to the neocon side like another terra attack.

REPUBLICANS ARE STEALING YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY!!!!


Put that on billboards. Newspaper Ads. On TV as long as they'll let you.

think that people over 55 don't care about their kids and grandkids; serious mistake