I haven't really seen anyone mention it yet, but I was wondering how much the republican push for social security reform is a well-timed attempt to win huge points with what will soon be the largest segment of the population: retired people.

True, Bush can't run for president again, but this is the kind of legislation that's so big, a party can run on it for years and years. Cf. the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was instrumental in insuring the long-term popularity of the democratic party among black voters (and as Johnson feared, the long-term erosion of white support in the south)

The great thing about pandering to retirees is that there's no opposition this time. Does the democratic party really want to come out forcefully against social security reform and be branded a hater of grandma and grandpa? So it's a deft political move in two directions -- the scale of the group on one hand, and the difficulty of mounting pointed public opposition on the other.

04 Feb 05