Waivering in West Virginia

You can smell the trepidation:

U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito lays out the problems confronting Social Security “for our children and grandchildren,” then says she hasn’t endorsed President Bush’s call for personal accounts as part of a solution.

“I’m looking at it, but I’m not sold on it,” she tells an audience at the Randolph County Senior Center. “I’m listening but I’m not pushing.”

(snip)

Capito, 51, is in a more delicate political position than many. A Republican in a sprawling Democratic district, she readily acknowledges her seat is anything but safe.

Already, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has accused her of “flip-flops on Social Security privatization” — a signal she can expect to be criticized on the issue in the 2006 elections if she sides with the president.