Leading the GOP charge against likely Minnesota senatorial candidate Walter Mondale, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich accused the former vice president Sunday of supporting Social Security privatization and raising the retirement eligibility age, but it appears the allegations are false.
Gingrich, who now runs a management consulting firm in Washington, suggested during an appearance on "Meet the Press" that Mondale supported Social Security privatization and raising the retirement eligibility age. Mondale is the likely ballot replacement for Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone, who died in a plane crash on Friday. Wellstone had made opposition to privatization or partial privatization of Social Security a major platform issue.
"Walter Mondale chaired a commission that was for the privatization of Social Security worldwide," Gingrich said. "He chaired a commission that was for raising the retirement age dramatically. He has a strong record of voting to raise taxes. . . . think that what you'll see on the Republican side is an issue-oriented campaign that says, you know, if you want to raise your retirement age dramatically and privatize Social Security, Walter Mondale is a terrifically courageous guy to say that."
Apparently, the commission he was referring to was one sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a bipartisan think tank that seeks solutions to emerging global problems. CSIS's Commission on Global Aging, which issued the report last year, recommended raising retirement ages and converting "social protection schemes from pay-as-you-go to market based financing" in major industrialized countries around the globe as a way to deal with the crisis of depopulation and aging population crises.
But Mondale, who served as the co-chairman of the commission, dissented from the majority position that supported raising retirement ages and privatizing government retirement programs. Mondale co-wrote the commission's dissent with six other Americans:
"Although we support the Commission's role in providing leadership in the global aging debate, we are strongly opposed to some of the Commission's findings and recommendations... Some of the Commission's findings and recommendations could be interpreted as mandates to fundamentally change Social Security and Medicare... Population trends should not be an excuse to renege on this commitment. Rather, we should rededicate ourselves to finding creative ways to meet the commitment, particularly because the United States does not face the same demographic challenges as other nations."
The dissent continued: "We do not support the Commission's findings and recommendations that might result in the dismantling of social insurance programs and their replacement with funded schemes. Funded systems are not immune to financial and demographic fluctuations, as the recent stock market performance clearly demonstrates. Funded systems should remain an important supplement to existing guarantees, but they should not replace those guarantees."
Reached on his cell phone this afternoon, Gingrich's spokesman, Rick Taylor, said: "I wasn't aware of the dissent. But I haven't had a chance to talk to the speaker about it." Taylor said he would seek an explanation and call back later. As of late Monday, Taylor had not called back
With Election Day a little more than a week away, supporting privatization could be seen as a strong argument against Mondale given that it might damper enthusiasm from liberals - Wellstone's base. And, Gingrich was not the only one pursuing the line of attack on Sunday. Ramesh Ponnuru, a writer for the conservative National Review, said on CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer: "[Mondale] is a major advocate of President Bush's position on Social Security, which is something that I think, once it becomes more public, is going to alienate Wellstone Democrats."
CSIS spokesman Paul Hewitt said of Mondale: "He pointedly disagreed. He had his own point of view."
Hans Reimer, senior policy analyst for the liberal Campaign for America's Future, was more forceful: "Republicans are lying when then say Mondale supports privatization, just like they are lying when they claim to oppose it," he said.
One high-ranking Republican, who asked to remain unnamed, defended the Gingrich assault, arguing that he got the gist of it right.
"He is associated with groups that have called for this," this person said. "He's going to have to answer for it. What are his positions on Social Security?"
But Republicans probably aren't lying when they say this race won't be a cakewalk if Mondale decided to get in it.
After Wellstone's death, Republicans initially were giving former St. Paul mayor Norm Coleman little chance to beat Mondale, if he is indeed the candidate. But Republicans operatives got their talking points together over the weekend, and by Monday were strenuously making the case that this race would not be a cakewalk for Mondale.
A poll done over the weekend by the Public Opinion Strategies for the National Republican Senatorial Committee put the race at 45-43 percent in Mondale's favor-numbers that are within the margin of error.
Republicans were busily reminding reporters about Mondale's political record, which included his landslide loss to Reagan in 1984. Mondale lost every state but Minnesota, which he only carried by about 4,000 votes out of more than 2 million casts. Given that he hasn't run for public office since the, there's little to suggest he can trounce Coleman.
"I think that's a significant point," said NRSC spokesman Dan Allen. "The last time he was on the ballot was 1984, and he didn't win overwhelmingly. There's been a whole generation since then who has never had the opportunity to vote for him."
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