Founded in 2005 when Congress was debating President Bush's privatization plan, Students for Saving Social Security now works to put social-security reform back on the agenda in Washington.
(...) When Sen. Hillary Clinton said last year that Social Security wasn't a priority, Evan Dent, the group's 24-year-old grass-roots and public-relations director, walked into the New York senator's New Hampshire headquarters in an ostrich suit to deliver an "ostrich award," a citation given to candidates who avoid the issue. In recent months, the group has adopted a new tactic: dropping in on campaign events in neon-green T-shirts that say, "New Hampshire Cares About Social Security."
The goal is twofold, explains Ms. Dent. "We want the voters to be educated on the issue, and we want the candidates to know that it's a very important issue that they need to fix," she says.
[Executive Director Jo] Jensen has proved herself skillful at the art of getting called on at town hall meetings. At a Clinton event on Sunday, Ms. Jensen wore her bright green T-shirt and held another in the air. "I wanted her to think that I had something to give to her," she said later. It worked.
When Mrs. Clinton nodded in her direction, Ms. Jensen grabbed a microphone and took the floor. "I heard some people say that Obama won the youth vote in Iowa because you don't talk about issues that we care about," she said as Mrs. Clinton and more than 2,000 people listened. "But I know that you do, so I wanted to give you this T-shirt and ask you: What's your plan for Social Security for my generation?"
