Social Security Reform Dicey for McCain

John McCain has opened a political can of worms by embracing the polarizing issue of privatizing social security, the Los Angeles Times reports. McCain says making young workers pay into a plan unlikely to benefit them is a "disgrace." Counters a rep for one group planning to fight the GOP candidate: "This could well be McCain's Achilles' heel with … the baby boomer generation."

Though some criticize McCain's plan as incoherent, his advisers say they learned lessons from President Bush's failed overhaul push in 2005. "The history on Social Security has been if you put out specific proposals or preconditions, you polarize the debate and the deal doesn't get done," McCain's economic adviser said. (More Social Security stories.)