Gore will keep raising those questions as he pushes his plan to keep Social Security as it is by using more of the budget surplus to pay down federal debt. But he may have muddied the waters by offering a separate plan that would provide federal matching money in the form of tax credits for a new kind of tax-free retirement savings accounts. There is a similar battle over Medicare and prescription drugs. Bush proposes a prescription drug benefit that would be offered through private insurance companies and health maintenance organizations and would not be available to every senior. Gore counters with a more traditional, government-run benefit that would be offered through Medicare to all seniors.
Seniors are the most loyal voters.
They are particularly influential in Florida, where nearly 20 percent of the state's 15-million residents are older than 65. But Gore has to get them to pay attention to a level of detail that doesn't fit neatly into a 30-second television commercial. Winning back women Clinton won in 1992 and 1996 largely because of support from women voters. Now women may cost Gore the election. Gore led among single women, who are more likely to believe in government's role in providing a social safety net.