Courting the young on Social Security

LA PLATA, Md. -- In a small college classroom in southern Maryland, Steny H. Hoyer, the House minority whip, played teacher for nearly two hours yesterday, imploring young people to fight to save a guaranteed retirement benefit.

"Young people really need to be engaged in this debate, because they're going to pay the freight," said Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat. "Social Security is not an issue for seniors. It is an issue for all Americans, because all Americans -- underline all Americans -- are affected and advantaged by Social Security."

As President Bush touts his plan to partially privatize Social Security for younger workers, those same workers are emerging as a top target for the Democratic case that the program's benefits should not be cut. At the College of Southern Maryland yesterday, Hoyer appeared with a top official of Rock the Vote, who used humor to make the case that financial independence for senior citizens amounts to financial independence for young people.

"After you work so hard getting off your parents' couch, do you really want them moving back in with you?" said Hans Riemer, Washington director of the nonpartisan group, which works toward getting young people involved in civic life.

But the event demonstrated the difficulty both political parties are having in their appeal to young people over Social Security. Though the town meeting was on a college campus, the crowd of more than 100 included only about a dozen college-age people -- and all of them ducked out the back well before the question-and-answer period was over.

Bruce F. Wesbury, a local Republican official who came to Hoyer's event to dispute some of his contentions, said he was disappointed that yesterday's event didn't draw more young people, since they have much at stake. But he said the low turnout should underscore the fact that younger workers want to invest in personal retirement accounts similar to what Bush is touting.

"Overwhelmingly they want the option," said Wesbury, finance chairman of the Republican Party of Charles County, Md. "The Democrats are trying to scare everybody."

Democratic members of Congress are holding 235 town hall-style meetings across the country in a month, as they try to compete with the campaign-style press of Bush and his fellow Republicans. Democrats are holding about 100 such events this week alone, while Congress is not in session.

In Massachusetts, Representative Edward J. Markey has a Social Security meeting scheduled for tomorrow in Lexington, and Representative James P. McGovern is holding one tomorrow in Marlborough in addition to events in the coming weeks in Fall River, Worcester, and Plainville. Representative Martin T. Meehan is hosting a forum on the subject in Lowell on Friday, and Representative Richard E. Neal will have events in Chicopee and Southbridge next Friday. Representative John F. Tierney held public meetings in Peabody, Lynn, and Newburyport last week.

Hoyer's event yesterday lacked the pomp and polish of the round-table discussions Bush has been having, but he came well-equipped with facts, figures, and props. His office distributed copies of a PowerPoint presentation, "Social Security: An American Success Story," and he displayed full-color posters designed to show the impact he said Bush's plan would have on the deficit and the benefits to future retirees.

"When the president asserts that Social Security is going bankrupt, he is absolutely, dead, 100 percent wrong," Hoyer said. "What we need to do is strengthen Social Security, not destroy it."

Riemer said yesterday's poor turnout does not detract from his belief that young people will grow more involved in the debate over Social Security as it gains more attention. While it is difficult to get 20-somethings to care about their retirement, he said the wide belief that Social Security won't be around for them means they will mobilize.

"There's nothing more engaging than the idea that the government's going to steal something from you, and that's the underlying current of this debate," Riemer said. "Young people are just like everybody else. They tune in to the major issues of our times. Just like they turned out to vote in this election, they're going to tune in to the debate about this."

Catherine Frick, a retired Maryland high school teacher, said Republicans should be more concerned about the participation of older Americans.

"It worries me what they're trying to do and how it would affect people who depend on Social Security," said Frick, who was born in 1950 and could see her benefits cut under Bush's plan. "But we vote, and I know that's going to help a lot."

Rick Klein can be reached at rklein@globe.com.