Bob Lord, the Democrat opposing U.S. Rep. John Shadegg (R-Phoenix) in the 3rd Congressional District, held a press event today during which he attacked his opponent for supporting the "privatization" of Social Security.

Flanked by senior citizens from the district, Lord addressed a small gathering of supporters and staff at his campaign office and condemned Shadegg for supporting Pres. Bush's plan to create "personal accounts" within the Social Security structure.

He distributed a "Pledge to Protect Social Security," in which Lord said he will oppose "all efforts to privatize Social Security," including "diverting ay [sic] Social Security revenues to fund private accounts" and "any plan that includes cutting Social Security benefits to finance private investments."

Lord was taking his cue from an op-ed piece Shadegg wrote for the Washington Post in April 2005, at the time Bush was making a push to create private accounts.

"...the Bush proposal would keep management fees to a minimum and protect individuals from making unsafe investment decisions, while allowing workers to realize the benefits of investing in the capital markets," Shadegg wrote. "By creating personal accounts within Social Security... Bush's proposal would do just that."

Lord, a tax attorney, agrees that some reform is necessary, but does not think the Social Security system needs immediate attention.

"I don't believe the system is broken," Lord told PolitickerAZ.com. "There are long-term challenges, but we don't need to rush into anything. We don't even have all the info."

Lord pointed to an increase in the U.S. birth rate between 2006 and 2007 as evidence that many factors "dramatically change the outlook." Still, he said he thinks Social Security will be solvent for a long time.

"We're not looking at real problems until 2042 or something," he said. "That doesn't mean we should wait until 2041 to make changes, though," he added.

"Some changes are going to be needed to ensure the system's solvency," said Lord, but did not elaborate on what he thinks they might be.

An unspoken component to the event may have been a desire to divert attention from the defeat the Lord campaign was handed by Shadegg in quarterly fundraising. Discounting refunds, Shadegg brought in over $536,000 in net receipts during the second quarter. Lord, in the same period, raised over $233,000, or less than half of what Shadegg commanded.

"It's no secret the incumbent raised a lot of money," said Lord. "What's important to me is the money I'm raising."

When asked when Lord was going to start using the more than $700,000 his campaign now has in the bank on things like advertising, Andrew Eldredge-Martin, Lord's campaign manager, smiled and pointed to an NBC 12 news camera present for the event.

"Seriously though," said Eldgredge-Martin, "traditionally that starts after Labor Day." He would divulge that the campaign is getting its street signs on Friday, but as for their plans for other media, Eldredge-Martin wasn't talking.

"It's a state secret," he said.