ORLANDO, Florida (AP) --
Seizing on a report that plans to privatize Social Security could include raising the retirement age by five years, Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards hammered President Bush at a rally of union members Saturday.
Fortune magazine, in its issue dated Nov. 1, reports the Social Security Administration is considering an idea that calls for early-retirement accounts that begin paying at age 62 by setting aside one-sixth of the money that employees and employers pay to Social Security.
To make up for the lost revenue, the magazine reported the full retirement age would be pushed back from 67 to 72.
Although Bush was not named in the report, the North Carolina senator wasn't deterred from pinning the news on the president and claiming Bush is hiding the truth of what would happen in his second term. (Special Report: America Votes 2004)
"How many factory and mill workers, like the ones I grew up with, would now have to work more before they get their retirement benefits?"
Edwards asked the crowd of 600. "How many nurses, elementary school teachers, taxicab drivers would now have to work more? We need the answers to these questions before Election Day, not after."
Social Security is a hot-button issue in Florida, home to nearly 3 million people age 65 and older. And with the state's 27 electoral votes up for grabs, campaigns may go far with successful appeals to the elderly.
Edwards' attack is part of the strategy used by Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, who is trying to make Bush's handling of Social Security and health care major issues in the campaign.
Bush is firing back with charges the Democrats are using scare tactics.
Bush spokesman Reed Dickens was traveling Saturday and could not immediately be reached for comment.
At the rally, Edwards repeated the promise that he and Kerry would never raise the retirement age.
"There's one person we all don't mind sending into early retirement, and his name is George W. Bush," Edwards said to cheers.
Edwards was heading next to the St. Petersburg area as Kerry's wife Teresa Heinz Kerry and New York Sen. Hilary Clinton pushed the Democratic ticket.
