WASHINGTON — Snow swirled outside the White House as presidential advisor Karl Rove strode into Room 450 of the Old Executive Office Building, just across from his West Wing office.
Four weeks had elapsed since his boss, President Bush, embarked on a national campaign to overhaul Social Security -- and the reception was as chilly as the Washington winter. Polls showed the public wary, Republicans were balking on Capitol Hill, and businesses that had agreed to lend support were dropping out under pressure from labor unions.
The White House had summoned dozens of the nation's most influential business lobbyists so Rove could personally deliver the message that Social Security was the president's No. 1 domestic priority -- and introduce the committee charged with building support for it.
Even in a business community still divided on the issue, the private talking-to penetrated deeply.
Since that Feb. 24 meeting, nearly 100 state and national trade associations -- representing bankers and bakers, restaurateurs and road builders -- have joined Compass, the Coalition for the Modernization and Protection of America's Social Security.
It was clear "from folks who looked you right in the face that this president is serious ... and that anything business can do to help on this journey will be important. And it will be noted," recalled Dirk Van Dongen, president of the National Assn. of Wholesaler-Distributors and one of those charged with recruiting members for the committee.
But while the business associations convey support to the White House -- and funnel money to the Social Security campaign -- individual companies that make up the trade groups are for the most part declining to take a public position.
A Los Angeles Times telephone survey this month of the 20 largest U.S. companies found only two willing to publicly support the president's proposal on Social Security.
The companies are caught between the clearly expressed desires of the White House and the fierce opposition of labor, which is pressing business to renounce the Bush plan. That struggle is occurring against the backdrop of the proposal's poor showing in most public opinion polls, especially among older Americans.
American businesses have traditionally stayed out of partisan policy debates except on issues that directly affect them. Business trade groups typically lobby for legislation involving tax, regulatory and healthcare questions that go directly to the bottom line, while avoiding hot-button social issues.
