I am not finding either major party presidential candidate very forthcoming on issue details in their every day stump speeches.  McCain is repeating lines that are now old about his new running mate and Obama is, well, a great orator but short on detail none the less.  Except when addressin a specific constituency – labor unions, AARP, etc. – where a detailed description of the candidate’s stance on issues relevant to that constituency, the candidates seem to think vague statements are okay for the general public.

Today, Saturday, September 6, both Obama and McCain will address the annual “convention” of AARP.  I am not sure what world AARP lives in as their membership begins at 50, and I don’t know a whole lot of people who retire at 50, but these speeches are going to be big on distinguishing one candidate from the other on a “third rail” issue – Social Security.  Now, I realize I am not 50, though this coming Thursday will put my one year closer to the big 5-0.  I do, though, due to parents who are in their mid-60’s and early 70’s, find Social Security to be one of the big issues for me and probably for a majority of my generation.

While definitely a special interest group, AARP had Barack Obama speak to 20,000 of their members early this morning.  I took over four pages of notes on the brief session.  Obama did make remarks after introductory remarks by AARP’s president.  After his remarks, he answered 3 questions – of the 20,000 plus submitted by AARP members – before needing to go.  I encourage you to listen to Obama’s remarks yourself at http://assets.aarp.org/www.aarp.org_/TopicAreas/Events/life-at-50/webstream/obama.html as I found that I have tons of notes.

The highlights of Obama’s remarks are that privitization of Social Security is a bad idea.  Obama will not raise the retirement age or cut COLA (cost of living adjustments) for Social Security.  The majority of Obama’s idea for saving Social Security revolve around raising the cap on Social Security taxes.  Currently, Americans pay Social Security tax on the first $102,000 dollars of income regardless of actual total income.  Obama proposes, though without ever indicating what will happen to the income betwen $102,000 and $250,000, to raise the payroll tax on incomes over $250,000.  Yes, that is a specific number but not a specific plan.  There is no discussion of what will go in the “gap” area as I stated above.  There is also no discussion of whether the tax on income over $250,000 will be the same as the tax on the first $102,000.  Further in the event, during the answer to a specific question, Obama admits that this ALONE will not fill the gap there is in Social Security with the known problem of fewer workers per retiree.

There was a considerable amount of time spent on health care and changing the culture of Washington business as usual during Obama’s talk also.

For those of you reading this prior to 12:30 pm ET on September 6, John McCain’s remarks will be streamed at http://assets.aarp.org/www.aarp.org_/TopicAreas/Events/life-at-50/webstream/mccain.html or look for a blog entry on them after the fact.