Ramesh is right. Americans aren’t in the mood for people with grand ideological ideas right now, or for politicians who act like they are listening to their own agendas rather than the American people. And they are particularly not up for anything that feels remotely radical regarding Social Security.

George Bush tried a version of what Paul Ryan is saying — and got slammed. The more Americans heard him talk about privatizing Social Security, the less they liked it. Basically, young people don’t care about retirement — it’s too far away. And old people want emotional and psychological security more than they want maximal returns.

And all that was before the stock-market crash. The effect of the crash on the financial well-being of older Americans has received remarkably little attention — because old people don’t complain and they know how to tighten their belts if necessary. One of my close relatives, who has worked for the Census most of her life, lost two-thirds of her savings in the crash. She’s not going to want to listen to someone who says anything but “we will make sure you have the money you were promised.” (I know Ryan’s plan is nuanced, but I think its politically dangerous nonetheless.)

The GOP needs to be the party of Old People, of traditional values (like freedom, democracy, religious liberty, and the family) and of dynamic, entreprenuerial economic growth fed by liberty and the free market (not crony capitalism).