President Bush pushed hard for reforming Social Security during the 2004 presidential campaign against John Kerry, and he began to carry through on his promise after his reelection. In his 2005 State of the Union address, he told the assembled gathering in the Capitol and a large TV audience that "we must join together to strengthen and save Social Security." Bush proposed, among other changes, that younger workers be allowed to apply a portion of their Social Security payroll tax to individual retirement accounts. He urged Congress to adopt this change and urged the American people to let representatives and senators know they wanted it. The president immediately set off on a campaign-style speaking tour around the country , featuring carefully controlled town meetings, to sell his ideas on Social Security reform in general and individual retirement accounts in particular.

The battle over Social Security was joined not only by the two major parties and by their representatives and senators, but by an impressive array of interest groups and advocacy organizations. The president was supported, for example, by the conservative advocacy organization Progress for America, which immediately launched a media advertising campaign in support of his plan (it had spent over $35 million on campaign advertising for Bush in 2004). Also supporting the president was Compass-the Coalition to Modernize and Protect Social Security-an organization created by the Business Round Table, a group comprised of the CEO's of many of America's largest corporations. COMPASS sponsored rallies and town meetings, spending about $20 million in the effort. USA Next, a conservative advocacy organization that had run harsh anti-Kerry ads during the 2004 presidential contest, ran advertising attacking the AARP for its opposition to the president's proposals, implying in its television advertising campaign that the AARP approved of same-sex marriage. The Club for Growth, a conservative advocacy organization that usually focuses its attacks on Democrats, took several Republican lawmakers to task in its advertising campaign for their purported willingness to raise the retirement age and the payroll tax.

The AARP, a 35-million member organization representing older and retired Americans, led the campaign against individual retirement accounts within Social Security. It spent over $10 million in advertising, mainly to inform its members about the pending legislation and encourage them to contact their representatives and senators. Americans United to Protect Social Security, an umbrella organization bringing together various labor unions and Democratic Party-affiliated groups, raised $35 million to oppose the president's plan, and staged town hall meetings in Republican congressional districts featuring an empty chair for the invited but absent Republican lawmaker. MoveOn.org, a liberal advocacy group, and a notable player in the 2004 presidential and congressional campaigns on behalf of Democrats, ran a television ad on the day of the State of the Union that used Social Security cards to spell out the letters WMD (for weapons of mass destruction), with a voice-over warning "Make sure you are not misled again." Finally, the AFL-CIO, representing 13 million unionized workers, focused on corporations supporting the president's proposal, staging rallies urging them to withdraw their support.

The president's proposal died quietly in Congress, never making its way out of the several House and Senate committees charged with considering it. Some observers say it was fated to fail because it did not address Social Security's real long-term problems (see more on this in Chapter 17). Others say that Social Security reform was forced to take a back seat to other public concerns, including the war in Iraq, the ongoing threat of terrorism, recurring federal budget deficits, and the recovery effort following Hurricane Katrina. Still others say the plan, so closely identified with President Bush, could not succeed in the face of his declining popularity. Whatever the ultimate cause or causes, and whatever the merits for and against the particular legislation proposed by the president, what is inescapable in this story is the range of interest groups involved in the battle.

A diverse array of interest groups is involved in all major legislative and executive proposals in the United States, just as they were in the debate over Social Security reform. Though different groups are involved in different policy struggles-business-oriented groups may be most involved in tax and regulatory issues, for example, while more ideological advocacy groups may be most involved in social issues such as abortion and affirmative action-interest groups are major players in American politics and key actors in the formation and execution of public policies in the United States.