GOP seeks to counter criticism on elderly issues

WASHINGTON -- Determined to blunt the inevitable Democratic attacks, House Republicans and the Bush administration spent the winter privately debating a plan to give Social Security recipients written government guarantees for future benefits.

Support for the idea faded when opinion sampling showed it was viewed as a political gimmick.

Though discarded, the suggestion was merely part of an ambitious GOP effort -- including mock television commercials, polling, focus groups and other measures -- to counter criticism on Social Security and prescription drug coverage for Medicare. Both issues are of vital concern to older Americans, who vote in disproportionately large numbers in midterm elections.

House Republicans tested television commercials designed to mimic presumed Democratic criticisms, showing them to targeted audiences. One warned that Social Security benefits could suffer an Enron-style collapse if the GOP backs a plan to allow "gambling" Social Security funds in a gyrating stock market. Ads then were designed to rebut each attack, and they, too, were tested.