The advocacy group Social Security Works has established itself over the past 10 years as a progressive force to be reckoned with—and it's gearing up to continue the fight during the Biden administration.
Founded by Nancy Altman and Eric Kingson in 2010, the group counts a 2.1-million-person email list and receives about 60% of its revenue from grassroots donors. A modest operation, SSW took in $773,575 in 2019.
"We define 'Social Security' broadly to mean full economic security—just as FDR and Frances Perkins did," SSW's Executive Director Alex Lawson Told Blue Tent. "Accordingly, we focus on a variety of economic justice issues, particularly the fight to take on Big Pharma's greed and lower prescription drug prices."
Working for change in a new administration
Lawson said that SSW has already had success in convincing then-candidate Joe Biden to focus on protecting Social Security in the general election campaign and to use the issue as a wedge for voters wavering between him and President Donald Trump.
Now, the group hopes to push Biden to "clean house" at the Social Security Administration. Trump's appointees have pursued a vicious right-wing agenda at the agency, targeting the program's beneficiaries and trying to kick them off the rolls. A petition to that effect already has nearly 225,000 signatures.
Lawson also pointed to the group's 2019 success in advocating for an expansion to the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, an effort that involved a coalition of organizations and progressive lawmakers. The campaign's success serves as "an important marker for drug pricing policy during the Biden administration," Lawson said.
Reach
The group maintains a robust social media presence and has a strong communications strategy, said Lawson.
"We are a social media powerhouse, regularly reaching over 1 million a week on Facebook," said Lawson, adding that SSW's page is "the largest left-wing page focused on seniors," and that it had 14.5 million interactions over 2018 and 2019.
SSW's petitions and letter drives drew the support of over 1 million people in 2019.
As Blue Tent reported, the group has a unique approach to Democratic Party coalition politics in that its mission is so narrow it can avoid getting bogged down in other issues. "We have a mission and we don't deviate from it," said Lawson.
Trouble down the line
Nonetheless, Lawson has some advice for party leaders looking at control of the White House and narrow majorities in the House and possibly Senate. Primarily? Don't trust the GOP.
"Mitch McConnell believes he is the co-president," said Lawson. "And by that, I mean that he's the president, he's controlling things."
The Republican Party won't let the incoming president govern if they have any control over the situation, Lawson continued, so progressives and Democrats need to be prepared to "drive the agenda of what is possible."
"If we want to add seats in the House, and if we want to add seats in the Senate, there's only one way of doing that, and that's make people's lives better," said Lawson. "That's the key of this incoming administration. That's what all the things that we fight for at Social Security Works are—things that would immediately make people's lives better. So we'll just continue to be really clear and clarion in our calls."
