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Attention, Rand Paul ^[1] in Kentucky, Joe Miller ^[2] in Alaska, Sharron Angle ^[3] in Nevada and all you other Republican congressional candidates flopping around on the far right banks of the mainstream! Phasing out, privatizing or otherwise eliminating Social Security ^[4] does not sit well with the vast majority of the voting public.

The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal ^[5] poll finds that 68 percent of voters are “uncomfortable” with candidates who espouse such notions. Uncomfortable is putting it nicely. It’s downright painful to listen to U.S. Senate wannabes and other Republican hopefuls “babble into the vapors” about phasing out Social Security (turnabout’s fair play, Alan Simpson ^[6]!).

Of course, Simpson, as co-chair of the federal budget deficit commission, is one of the leading howlers baying about the coming demise of Social Security (check out its real long-term health here ^[7]) and the need to raise the retirement age and make other painful cuts. You might say he is one of the biggest enablers of phase-out crowd.

Thanks to Bill Scheer at the Campaign for America’s Future (CAF ^[8]) for highlighting the poll.