The AARP takes a nice cut from each mutual-fund sale. What the organization has done brilliantly is to leverage its status as a popular conduit of cheap services and goods for seniors -- from which it makes countless millions in royalties -- into credibility and power as a liberal lobbying group. The AARP has such a strong brand that it can demagogically attack Bush's proposed Social Security reform as "Social Insecurity" (oh, what clever wordsmiths at the AARP) with more street cred than other shrill liberal outfits such as MoveOn.org.
But the AARP is not going unchallenged. A new conservative seniors group called USA Next is ripping into the AARP, riding a wave of publicity from its (rather ham-fisted) attack on the AARP on the issue of gay marriage (an AARP affiliate in Ohio opposed an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment in the state). USA Next (www.usanext.org) is making its case not just on political grounds, but with a dagger aimed at the heart of the AARP's appeal -- cheaper discounts on travel!
Discounts aside, the imperative for Republican seniors who support Bush's reform should be clear: Because Bush's second term -- at risk in the fight over Social Security -- is important; because individual choice is superior to governmental dependence; because hypocritical and dishonest advocacy should be shunned, not subsidized with membership dues -- quit the AARP.