WASHINGTON — After several months of relatively civil debate over President Bush's proposal to restructure Social Security, the gloves are coming off.
This weekend, newspaper readers in Shreveport, La., will find a full-page ad placed by a liberal advocacy group questioning the political integrity and financial ties of Rep. Jim McCrery, the hometown Republican who heads the House Social Security subcommittee. "Who does this man work for?" the ad asks. "Not you."
Last week, a conservative group launched what it promised would be a sustained attack on the credibility of the 35-million-member AARP, which opposes Bush's plan. It posted an Internet ad suggesting, incorrectly, that the seniors' organization had embraced same-sex marriage, calling that "the real AARP agenda."
Mainstream political groups are getting in on the act too.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee unveiled a website featuring GOP lawmakers "caught on tape" expressing inconsistent positions on Social Security. And the Republican National Committee denounced McCrery's critics as a "liberal front group" representing "the Michael Moore wing of the Democratic Party."
Faster than you can say "Swift boat," the Social Security debate is veering into new and potentially toxic political territory.
Not content to limit the discussion to facts, figures and philosophy, some advocacy groups are beginning to employ assault tactics honed in the 2004 presidential race and other electoral battles. Drawing on the strategic expertise and fundraising acumen of veteran campaign operatives, they are turning Social Security into a staging ground for an increasingly shrill political exchange.
"I support their right to do this. But I think some of the efforts of groups on both sides of the issue are wrongheaded and, in some cases, counterproductive," said McCrery, who attributed the phenomenon to campaign-finance laws that had restricted the ability of political parties to finance issue advocacy, thus allowing nonprofit groups to become big players.
"They've learned how to do it, how to raise the money and get the media," McCrery said. "Our supporters have to do the same thing to counter the liberal groups. So you've got the political discourse in this country being controlled to a large extent by these independent entities rather than by the political parties."
