WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — In an explicit appeal to female voters, Sen. John F. Kerry argued Wednesday that President Bush's proposal to create private retirement accounts would weaken Social Security and harm elderly women.
Speaking to a partisan crowd in West Palm Beach, the Democratic presidential candidate cited a new study by a University of Chicago professor which projected that the financial services industry would make $940 billion by managing the private accounts while money was drained from the Social Security fund.
Kerry said the privatization of Social Security could result in a reduction in benefits and that the impact would be disproportionately felt by women, who live longer than men. "Our mothers, our grandmothers are the first ones hurt when benefits go down," he said.
Kerry said he would never privatize Social Security, pledging to strengthen the program through fiscal reforms and economic growth.
The Bush campaign rejected his charge that the president's plan would hurt women, saying the Massachusetts senator was making "misleading attacks appealing to people's fear" in an effort to bolster his standing among female voters.
Spokesman Steve Schmidt noted that the author of the University of Chicago study, Austan Goolsbee, is an informal advisor to the Kerry campaign.
"What the president's concept will do is strengthen Social Security and help create wealth for every single American," said Schmidt. "The president's commitment is clear: There will not be a change in benefits for any retiree or any American nearing retirement."
Kerry's effort to woo women comes after recent polls have shown that he has lost his strong lead over Bush among female voters. A New York Times poll released last week showed the president with a five-point lead among registered female voters.
Beyond speeches to women's organizations, Kerry has not made overt appeals to female voters and has spoken little of his support for abortion rights, apparently out of concern he would alienate swing voters.
Frustrated Democratic women's activists allied with the campaign have pushed Kerry to step up his efforts to reach female voters, but some said that the candidate's advisors expressed confidence that they had a lock on the women's vote.
Meanwhile, Bush has eagerly sought the backing of female voters, with a "W is for Women" theme and a message that he would do a better job of keeping the country safe.
