Backburner

With everything else that has been dominating the news, I almost forget that President Bush is still out campaigning.

It must be difficult to campaign though, when even your supporters have no idea what you are talking about:

Bush, Vice President Cheney and other officials are making "60 stops in 60 days," as their campaign says, to promote private accounts across the country. "It doesn't matter how long it takes," Bush said. "I'm going to work as hard as I can to tell the people, these are the facts."


Interviews with 15 people from Tucson found that his message hasn't reached everyone:


• Administrative assistant Mary McAllen, 51, said she's glad that people 50 and up wouldn't be affected by Bush's plan. Actually, she could be - the cutoff is people who are 55 or older.


• Karen Grainger, 50, a substitute teacher, said she thought people would have to hire brokers to manage their accounts. But Bush's idea would have them choose from investment packages that would be set and run by the government. "I'm not over 55, so it makes me a little nervous," Grainger says.


• Bill Hughes, 47, who works for a defense contractor, said he thought workers who chose to invest in private accounts would be guaranteed a certain rate of return. They wouldn't.