Have you read Richard Stevenson's front page rock'em sock'em recount of the Passion of the BushCo? If not, here's a reasonable facsimile for you - with actual excerpts from the article to keep me honest:
George W. Bush was born a poor black child with a dream. A dream that he would be visionary enough one day to gamble his presidency on a bold attempt to save Social Security with the magic of free markets. Even as governor of Texas, when he was in the earliest stages of planning his historic run for the highest office in the land, it was clear to any who met to advise him where he wanted his vision to take his country.
"He never said, 'What should I do about Social Security?' " said one of those early advisers, Martin Anderson, who had been a domestic policy adviser in the Reagan administration. "On the day we talked about Social Security, he said, 'We have to find a way to allow people to invest a percentage of their payroll tax in the capital markets. What do you think?' "
It's unclear when President Bush first knew he had to save Social Security but he has told aides that his earliest memory of the subject involves his father quickly handing him a copy of Goldwater's precampaign manifesto, Conscience of a Conservative, when the younger Bush asked his father some questions about the family's investment banking interests. In the 1964 Republican presidential primaries, Mr. Goldwater suggested that Social Security be made voluntary, saying many people would do better by investing on their own.
Aides agree that Bush's courageous dedication to the idea of allowing workers to invest part of their payroll taxes in personal accounts is matched only in his wealth of knowledge of the subject.
As he prepared to run for president, Mr. Bush sought the opinions of people who shared his belief in private accounts, including Edward H. Crane, the president of the Cato Institute, a libertarian research organization; José Piñera, the architect of the Chilean system; and even a Swedish official who helped revamp his nation's retirement program.
"My sense was that he was predisposed to go in that direction," said Mr. Crane, who along with Mr. Piñera discussed the issue over dinner with Mr. Bush and his wife at the governor's mansion in September 1997. "I was surprised by how knowledgeable he was in terms of the questions he asked."
In fact, during his run for Congress in 1978, his knowledge on the topic was a centerpiece of his campaign.
Social Security "will be bust in 10 years unless there are some changes," he said, according to an account published in The Midland Reporter-Telegram. "The ideal solution would be for Social Security to be made sound and people given the chance to invest the money the way they feel."
Presumably, he meant how they want or even choose, but Mr. Bush may have been on to something by tying emotions to the debate, something he continues to do today.
Social Security has long been considered dangerous political ground for either party. And although Mr. Bush's childhood dream to save it with personal accounts is helping open up the debate, he had to dig deep within himself to find the courage to take this possibily career-defining chance.
If Mr. Bush was hesitant, it stemmed from those political risks. Stephen Moore, a conservative activist, met with Mr. Bush in 1998 and found him sold on the principle of private accounts but not certain how to sell the country.
"His thought process was, how do you overcome the political obstacles to this?" Mr. Moore said.
The answer, of course, is with the emotion and bold, unflinching idealism that Mr. Bush touched on 27 years ago when his quest took shape.
"I've touched it," Mr. Bush said in New Hampshire last week, referring to Social Security as the third rail of American politics. "I touched it in 2000, when I campaigned here and around the country. I touched it in 2004. And I really touched it at the State of the Union, because I believe we have a problem."
Way to go, Richard! Ketchum Points all around!
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