Follow Sen. Mark Begich's lead, Democrats. Social Security works.
New polling from Center for Community Change Action and Social Security Works
released this week demonstrates just how deeply engrained Social Security is in American society, and how important its health is to electorate.
The polling found that voters don't just support protecting the program, but overwhelmingly want to grow it, supporting increasing Social Security benefits. Seventy-nine percent of likely 2014 voters nationally support "increasing Social Security benefits and paying for that increase by having wealthy Americans pay the same rate into Social Security as everyone else." That includes 59 percent who strongly support increasing benefits. Just 21 percent oppose. What's more:
Voters say they would reward their member of Congress if they voted to increase benefits. Sixty-three (63) percent say they are more likely to vote for their member of Congress if they voted for increasing Social Security benefits, while 16 percent say they are less likely and 21 percent say it makes no difference.
The numbers hold true throughout the states polled by Lake Research Partners. It focused in states with key Senate races this fall: Alaska, Georgia, Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Oregon.
Head below the fold to see how it plays out in a few of those state.
Alaska [pdf]: Seventy-six percent support increasing benefits, including 59 percent who strongly support. Just 24 percent oppose. Fifty-nine percent would be more likely to vote for a member of Congress who voted for the increase, but 67 percent would punish their representative for voting to cut benefits. Alaska Sen. Mark Begich has been at the forefront in the effort to increase benefits, and has been running on the issue. This bodes well for him.
Iowa [pdf]: Republican Joni Ernst as been hypocritically running on "saving" Social Security, while not mentioning the fact that she thinks privatizing it would be a great idea. She's vulnerable here, as 79 percent of voters agree with the idea of expanding Social Security by lifting the payroll tax cap on high-income earners. Among them 58 percent support the idea strongly. And a huge 70 percent say they are less likely to vote for someone who voted to cut Social Security benefits. This is something for Democrat Braley to hit hard and continuously from now to November.
New Hampshire [pdf]: Like national and Iowa voters, 79 percent of voters here like the idea of increasing Social Security benefits, 55 percent of them strongly. And 72 percent would punish a representative for voting for cuts. Which is interesting, because back when he was the senator in Massachusetts, Scott Brown threatened to do just that. That's probably something Sen. Jean Shaheen should be telling voters about.
North Carolina [pdf]: Support for expanding Social Security hits 80 percent here, (including 75 percent of Republicans). Voting to increase benefits would make 68 percent of North Carolinians more likely to vote for their representative or senator, while voting to cut it would make 75 percent of voters less likely to support a member of Congress. So far, Republican Thom Tillis hasn't had a vote on Social Security, but given how he has decimated the safety net in North Carolina as state House Speaker, there's little question he'd happily see Social Security hacked. Here's another opportunity for Sen. Kay Hagan to lead.
There is no reason whatsoever for Democrats to be shy on Social Security expansion. None. It's great politics (in all of these individual polls, number of Republicans supporting expansion are at 70 percent or better). It's also just smart policy, and something these Democrats can run on for years ahead. Because there's a massive retirement crisis coming. Being the party to divert that crisis could mean Democratic majorities for another generation.