Social Security Overhaul Splinters GOP

Factions of economic or social conservatives are questioning Bush's plan on priorities and costs. Party unity is put at risk.

WASHINGTON — President Bush's proposal to overhaul Social Security is falling flat across the country, to judge from recent polls, but public opinion is not his only problem. The whole idea splits Bush's party — along fault lines he masterfully bridged during his first term in the White House.

A Social Security overhaul is the Holy Grail for the GOP's free-market advocates, but it is a low priority for social conservatives who care more about banning abortion and same-sex marriage.

The costly initiative gives heartburn to the party's antideficit hawks. Even some of the Republicans' loyal business allies are lukewarm on Bush's effort to rewrite the program and allow workers to divert part of their Social Security payroll taxes into personal retirement accounts.The divisions highlight potential weaknesses in the GOP coalition that Bush hopes to turn into an enduring governing majority by the time he leaves the White House.

On Capitol Hill, the open disagreement among Republicans over the issue — and over the political strategy for dealing with it — is a departure from the unity and discipline they showed on most major issues during Bush's first term.