Governor George W. Bush's plan to save the social security system from going bankrupt is coming under increasing fire as he and Vice-President Al Gore battle for crucial votes.
Mr Bush campaigned in Florida, where large numbers of retirees depend on the social security system for their pensions and healthcare. He was joined by Senator John McCain, who attracted many independent voters during his failed bid to win the Republican nomination.
Mr McCain urged senior citizens not to be frightened by the Gore campaign attacks on the Bush plan, which would partially privatise social security by allowing workers to use part of their contributions to set up savings accounts which could be invested in stocks.
"Every four years it happens," Mr McCain told a meeting at Daytona Beach. "Don't let them scare the seniors in Florida."
Mr Bush told the cheering crowds he would keep his retirement programme's promise to seniors and attacked Mr Gore for doing nothing to save the system from eventual bankruptcy as the number of retirees increases faster than the number of people working.
The future of social security has become a huge election issue for the elderly, who turn out in bigger numbers to vote than younger people. But younger workers are also worried there will not be enough money in the system when they retire and are attracted to the idea of being able to use some of their contributions to take advantage of possible gains in the stock exchange.
Mr Gore has criticised the Bush proposals as "risky" and he has been supported by the Secretary of the Treasury, Mr Larry Summers, regarded as one of the best economists in the country.
Mr Summers has accused Mr Bush of "a fundamental misunderstanding of the system". His plan would require either "large cuts" in guaranteed benefits or some way of finding billions of dollars in new revenue to pay existing benefits.
"It is an arithmetic challenge that cannot be met," Mr Summers, who is also a trustee of the social security system, said in an interview in yesterday's Washington Post. He claimed that under the Bush plan the fund would be depleted when a worker now aged 42 retires.
There was good news for Mr Bush from a new poll in Florida which shows him leading Mr Gore by 46 per cent to 41 per cent. In the same newspaper poll a month ago Mr Gore was leading Mr Bush by two points.
Florida, with 25 electoral votes, is regarded as a "must-win" state for Mr Bush if he is to beat Mr Gore, who is seen as sure to win New York, with 33 electoral votes, and almost certain to win California, with 54 electoral votes.
Other national polls show Mr Gore tightening the race and reducing Mr Bush's already narrow lead. At a fund-raiser in Nashville in his native Tennessee, Mr Gore told supporters, "We clearly feel the wind at our backs. We clearly feel the wind filling our sails. We feel the momentum."
But observers point out that it is a sign of the pressure on Mr Gore that he feels it necessary to campaign in his own state.
Democrats are continuing to argue among themselves whether President Clinton should be called upon by Mr Gore to take a more prominent role in his campaign in the closing stages. Many Democrats believe the President would "energise" the Gore campaign and get out voters who otherwise would not bother.
Mr Bush has warned that if the President joins the Gore campaign this could raise the spectre of his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. "If he [Mr Clinton] can't help himself and starts getting out there and campaigns against me, the shadow returns," Mr Bush said.