Bush is trying to undercut AARP

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — President Bush and his allies are working hard to nullify the power of the AARP, the mighty lobby for older Americans that is the archenemy to his Social Security plan.

Everywhere he goes, Bush promises the group's members they won't be touched by his plan, while his backers charge that AARP is out of touch and prone to scare tactics.

Polling makes clear that young people like Bush's plan for personal accounts in Social Security while old people don't, so Bush is hoping to shift the debate away from the old and toward the young.

In an airport hangar here, college senior Amy Partin joined the president onstage to serve as a human reminder of the future. Bush hit his central message over and over — people over 55 will not be affected by changes he's proposing. He used the phrase "nothing changes" four times.

"Once the seniors realize nothing changes, the voices you'll hear from are the Amys of America," Bush told 2,000 people assembled recently for one of a string of campaign-style events pitching his Social Security plan.

At the same time, conservatives allied with Bush are trying to undercut the AARP.

"AARP doesn't care about the children or grandchildren of their own membership, and I think that's very shortsighted," Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., contended Tuesday.

A group that bills itself as an alternative to the AARP, USA Next, has run Internet ads suggesting AARP is a liberal front for everything from gay marriage to gun control, and the group's leader says a wave of direct mail, TV and radio ads are coming next.

It's risky. Polling shows that the AARP is more respected than any other prominent voice in the Social Security debate, including Bush, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and congressional leaders of both parties.

"You have to be careful who you attack," said Republican strategist Ed Rollins, who recently conducted a bipartisan poll on Social Security. "Going after the AARP is nuts. Don't make them the enemy."

AARP agrees with Bush that Social Security faces long-term financial problems and says it wants to be part of the discussion about how to fix them. Officials note that they helped Bush pass a prescription drug bill for Medicare opposed by many Democrats (a move that cost the group some 60,000 members). Further, AARP chief Bill Novelli recently met with Karl Rove, Bush's top political adviser, and Al Hubbard, his chief economic adviser, to talk about Social Security.