The campaign of California Senate candidate and state Attorney General Kamala Harris (D) is hinting it will soon play the Social Security card in earnest against her top opponent, Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.).
Harris’ campaign points to remarks by Sanchez expressing support for a “grand bargain” to reduce the debt modeled on the recommendations of the Bowles-Simpson commission, which was appointed by President Barack Obama. Major cuts to Social Security benefits, including raising the retirement age and cutting the cost-of-living adjustment, were among the bipartisan commission’s most controversial proposals.
“I mean, the reality is we do have to take a look at everything,” Sanchez told Fox News’ Megyn Kelly in October 2013, “as Simpson-Bowles did in their report and said, ‘Listen, you have got to put everything on the table — entitlements, defense, everything else.’”
Sanchez added that she is “a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, that’s Democratic fiscal conservatives. And we endorse the Bowles-Simpson plan.”
Sanchez stands by her openness to broker a deal that includes Social Security cuts.
“Loretta understands the pressures involved in tough votes like when she voted against the Wall Street bailout, against the war in Iraq and against the Patriot Act, and she knows that sometimes a vote is a compromise based on what’s on the table,” said Luis Vizcaino, a spokesman for the Sanchez campaign.
Harris’ campaign website states, by contrast, that the attorney general considers Social Security and Medicare benefits off the proverbial negotiating table.
“While some in Washington have voted to balance the budget on the backs of seniors, Kamala would oppose cuts to Social Security and Medicare, and believes we need to strengthen these safety nets,” the site says.
The California Senate primary is June 7 and neither campaign has aired any ads yet. Harris currently leads Sanchez by 7 percentage points, according to HuffPost Pollster’s polling average, and enjoys the endorsements of some of the most powerful Democratic interest groups. But there are four other candidates, and since California’s “jungle primary” system allows the top two winners to proceed to the general election, the Harris campaign is not taking any chances.
Social Security “is a key part of the difference between the two candidates,” a Harris campaign aide said.
When Harris begins to cast doubt on Sanchez’s Social Security bona fides more aggressively, she will have a playbook to follow from Democratic Senate candidates in states with earlier primaries, including Maryland, Pennsylvania and Florida.