It looks like bluster is winning as the private accounts strategy de jour. Any minute now, supporters say, the public is going to rise as one and turn out everyone who opposed the President’s plan. Any minute! Just you wait! In the meantime, well, they’re going to make stuff up about the impending doom that Democrats face.

Just last week, it was Lindsey Graham warning of “a death blow to the Democratic Party” and “more Republicans up here [in Washington] than we can handle.”

Now, even as the Washington Post head-counts a filibuster-proof group of senators opposed to private accounts, President Bush is getting into the act. During a speech in Louisville, he said:

See, if Congress doesn’t think there’s a problem, nothing is going to happen. But when Congress realizes people all over the country say, we’ve got a problem, then I pity the politician who stands in the way of the solution.

Watch out! 30-45% of the country supports Bush’s approach to Social Security! It’s a mandate!

In all seriousness, this shows that Bush has no understanding of the (lack of) power of the presidency on domestic policy. The president can put an issue at the top of the national agenda. People will usually agree that there is a problem. But research shows that the chief executive is rarely successful at changing public opinion in favor of his preferred solution (or “solution,” in Bush’s case). If it’s not there when you start, it won’t suddenly materialize weeks or months later. Sorry George.