Minnesotans wary of Social Security cuts

News from the third rail of American politics: A new poll suggests that Minnesotans across party lines overwhelmingly oppose cutting Social Security benefits to reduce the federal deficit, a finding that pollsters say could play a major role in next year's elections. The poll, released Wednesday, was commissioned by Social Security Works, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare Foundation, and the Alliance for Retired Americans. So there might be an element of advocacy here. But for what it's worth, it's a professionally done survey and it finds that 72 percent of Minnesota respondents oppose trimming benefits to lower the deficit, while 19 percent are in favor. Intriguingly, the split is 61-32 even among Tea Party supporters. For those all-important independents, the breakdown is 69-21. (Democrats: 80-12; Republicans: 65-26). It's not clear who this helps. At least two of Minnesota's leading politicians are on record for trimming benefits. One is U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat who is up for reelection next year. She has advocated raising the retirement age by one year to make the program solvent long-term. Another is former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican running for president, who has suggested means-testing cost-of-living increases. The findings come from a recent telephone survey of 584 likely 2012 voters in Minnesota. Conducted by Lake Research Partners, the margin of error is plus-or-minus 4.1 percentage points.