Okay, I think we’ve really got a live one on the line with Mike McGavick, Republican senate candidate this year in Washington state.
As I noted yesterday, we hear that in private conversations, McGavick is a die-hard phase-out man, a big supporter of President Bush’s plan to phase 
out Social Security and replace it with private accounts. That squares with the recent fundraiser held for him in DC by the Financial Services Roundtable, a key Social Security privatization pressure group.
Only he won’t come clean about it in his election campaign. On the contrary, McGavick is opening new territory in the uncharted wilderness of Social Security bamboozlement. Here’s his position on Social Security from his campaign website: “A voluntary system should be instituted allowing those who can afford to do so, to return their Social Security payments.”
Apparently folks tried to find out earlier this year in Yakima, Washington. McGavick said “I think we’d be amazed at the response” after he appeals to seniors to voluntarily send back in their monthly Social Security checks.
The most we’ve been able to find McGavick saying is that “personal accounts are one solution that should be evaluated.”
Anyway, it seems pretty clear he’s a diehard supporter of phase-out but won’t come clean about it with the public, which brings us to our contest.
President Bush says he’s going to come back again try to phase out Social Security after the November election. So we’re trying to find out where McGavick stands on Social Security. Is he for preserving it in its current form or does he support President Bush’s plan to phase it out and replace it with private accounts? And we need your help to find out.
So here’s the deal. We’re holding a contest to see who can get a straight answer out of Mike McGavick on Social Security — against phase out or in favor of it. To the winner goes a special TPM ‘Privatize This’ t-shirt, a TPM mug and … and a special place in our new TPM Hall of Social Security Heroes. Anyway, it’s really exciting stuff.
Also, even if you can’t get a straight answer out of McGavick, if you get a chance to ask him, you can win a special TPM mug, even if he refuses to answer or gives you that lame voluntary give back ridiculousness. We’ll follow up with details about rules.
More details on the contest to come soon.
Coming Soon: Contest expands to include New Jersey’s Tom Kean, Jr.!
