You can tell its election season because Democrats are once again attacking Republican’s for daring to propose reforms to Social Security.  These attacks come despite the fact that Social Security is already running a temporary deficit, and that deficit will turn permanent in just five years.  Overall, the amount the system has promised beyond what it can actually pay now totals $18.7 trillion.

But the latest Pew Poll suggests that attacking Republicans for wanting to “privatize” Social Security might not be such an effective tactic after all.  According to the poll, Americans support proposals to “allow workers younger than age 55 to invest a portion of their Social Security taxes in personal retirement accounts that would rise and fall with the markets” by 58 – 28 percent.   Younger voters supported personal accounts my an astounding 70-14 percent margin, but every age group except seniors was supportive.  Seniors split evenly.   Independents, widely believed to be the key to the upcoming election, supported personal accounts by 61-27, and even Democrats favored the idea by 50-36.

Maybe this will finally give the Republicans some courage on the issue.