South Florida Sun-Sentinel

WASHINGTON – Young adults, a generation with the most at stake in the national debate over Social Security, appear to be losing confidence in President Bush’s proposal to boost retirement savings through individual investment accounts.

Wariness among the young is one of several ominous signs that Bush’s attempt to restructure the program is in trouble.

A barrage of advertising by AARP, stock market jitters, qualms felt by many Republicans and the fierce protectiveness of senior citizens for Social Security have sapped Bush’s top domestic priority for his second term.

Now poll results indicate that those under 30, long the target of would-be reformers, are following the path of their grandparents.

Nationwide polling by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that support for Bush’s plan among Americans age 18 to 29 sharply dropped from 66 percent in February to 49 percent in late March.

A plurality of young adults still favored the concept, with only 25 percent opposed and 26 percent unsure. These results and other recent signs indicate growing uncertainty among a generation that potentially would benefit most from a long-term investment outside the traditional system.

“What’s happening in general is the more people hear about this the less they like it, and young people are catching up with that,” said Carroll Doherty, editor of the Pew poll who interviewed some of those surveyed.

Bush and his allies in Congress still talk hopefully about rallying the public to pressure Congress into enacting a “permanent fix” to finance the program, which is projected to run short of funds by 2041. They hope to incorporate personal accounts, a conservative cause, largely to appeal to younger workers and to soften the blow of potential cutbacks to future benefits.

Under the Bush plan, workers could divert nearly two-thirds of their Social Security payroll taxes into investment accounts.

Younger generations have the biggest stake in this debate because their taxes and future retirement benefits would be most affected. Polls consistently show younger people are most receptive to Bush’s concept, while senior citizens are most resistant.

“I’m a young guy, I would be more willing to enter into riskier stocks and equities,” said Brendan Lynch, 27, an insurance agent in Lake Worth and a member of the Young Republicans of the Palm Beaches. “I know my personal account out-performs any kind of government Social Security, day in and day out.”

AARP’s advertisements blasting Bush’s proposal and the influence of older Americans have undermined support for investment accounts, he said.

“I am very much in favor of it, but the elderly are such a large portion of those who actually vote in the United States, and they get scared any time you talk about changing Social Security,” said Lynch.

AARP, the 35-million member advocacy group for those 50 and older, has teamed up with Rock the Vote, a liberal advocacy group of younger people, to campaign against Bush’s account proposal.

Rock the Vote has harnessed the Internet to reach young people on the issue, telling them to beware proposals that may undermine their future retirement.

“We have turned people’s heads,” said Hans Riemer, Washington director of Rock the Vote. “We started educating people, saying there’s not necessarily a stamp of approval among young people for privatization.

“The fact that there is no youth movement for privatization is telling.”

Some Democrats in Congress have taken up the cause.

“The perception that our generation is not going to have Social Security when we retire is really incorrect,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who is 38. “We are trying to help people in our generation understand that.”

Democrats say relatively small adjustments can be made to shore up the program over time, but they have not formed a consensus plan of their own, demanding that Bush first abandon his call for diverting taxes from the traditional program. Some Democrats in Congress, however, are quietly working behind the scenes to develop an alternative proposal that includes savings accounts apart from Social Security.

Both major parties are trying to get the attention of younger people, who tend to ignore policy debates that seem far removed from their immediate lives.

Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fla., met widespread apathy at a recent town-hall meeting on Social Security at the University of Missouri. “We made the mistake of having an intermission,” Shaw recalled with a smile. “All the young people left. They have other things on their mind other than retirement.”

Workers new to the political process who are not likely to retire for another three or four decades are struggling to sort out the conflicting messages that come at them on television, from the White House and their elders.

“I think young people are understandably somewhat distrustful of the manner in which basic social issues and relevant political positions are sold to them,” said Adrian Talbott, 25, executive director of a new bipartisan group, Generation Engage, which is organizing at the grass-roots to generate activism among non-college 18-to-24-year olds. “It’ll be interesting to see if this issue does galvanize the youth vote.”

Unlike the stereotype of cynical youth, Talbott is optimistic about the future of Social Security.

“I think we’ve made a lot of great advances as a society, and Social Security is right up there,” he said. “This debate, as vitriolic as it sometimes can be, is a healthy part of democracy. We’ll find a way to make it work.”

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