The heat is on the Bush administration right now to deliver on Social Security and what do they do? Backtrack and hedge their bets. The Washington Post's Jim VandeHei and Jonathan Weisman report in a very well-written article.

President Bush is privately expressing support for limits on the cost and risk of partially privatizing Social Security, in an effort to mollify nervous Republicans and win over dubious Democrats, according to White House aides and congressional Republicans. [emphasis added]

The key to this graf is that VandeHei and Weisman are willing to tell their readers the truth: George W. Bush is in favor of privatization, not personalization (or whatever else they want to call it). The two crack reporters continue:

Bush, who plans to make Social Security the centerpiece of tomorrow's State of the Union address, has privately told GOP lawmakers and aides that he would support phasing in changes to the system to keep deficits under control over the next several years and push individuals who opt for private accounts into more conservative investments, such as bonds, as they near retirement to mitigate long-term risks, the sources said.

The crux of this piece: Bush is already so concerned that his plans for privatizing Social Security can't pass that he's moving to funny accounting methods to try to woo fence-sitters.

Don't underestimate the President; he's gotten out of sticky situations before. Nevertheless, momentum is moving away from him now and he's running scared. Democrats need to enjoy it while they can because the battle will only get harder.