President Bush's top political orchestrator chose not to exercise his powers of political persuasion Friday on what could be a key swing vote in his boss' plan to retool Social Security.

Political observers expected Karl Rove, Bush's deputy chief of staff for policy, to possibly meet with Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., Friday while in Omaha. Rove advertised Bush's plan to partially privatize Social Security to about 300 associates of Ameritrade at the company's Bellevue headquarters before heading to a state GOP fundraiser in downtown Omaha that was closed to reporters.

Nelson, who says he has not yet taken a firm position on the Social Security issue because it still lacks a definitive proposal, has been stroked for support by Bush administration officials as recently as Thursday. He joined U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow in Omaha for a meeting with business leaders to discuss Social Security and the economy and just two days before that was contacted by White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card, Jr.   

Bush himself talked to Nelson one-on-one when he came to Omaha in February to tout his Social Security plan, which hinges on allowing people to invest in personal accounts.

Nelson could also be a key figure in the selection of a new Supreme Court justice.

But Nelson was not invited to the event Friday at the online brokerage firm, nor did Rove request a personal meeting with the senator, said David DiMartino, Nelson's spokesman.

Nelson is open to the idea of personal accounts if Social Security solvency is addressed first, said DiMartino, but "there's no plan to vote on" so Nelson hasn't yet staked a position.

Rove repeated the Social Security reform themes that have been at the center of Bush's domestic agenda since his re-election and that thus far have failed to persuade Congress to act.

Describing Social Security as a great social experiment that turned into a wild success, Rove said the system "has grown creaky with age and there's a powerful demographic working against it." He described a fiscal crisis driven by fewer workers paying into the system for every person drawing benefits and that government has a moral obligation to fix the problem to keep its promise to residents.

In 20 years the government will need $200 billion to pay what it owes under Social Security, another two decades after that the system will be bankrupt and the problem generally is one "we cannot tax ourselves out of," Rove said. Allowing investment in private accounts would mesh with Americans' increased participation in the markets, said Rove, who stated that "wealth is too important to be left to the wealthy."

Thirty years ago, less than 15 percent of people invested in the market, compared to about half today, Rove added.

Rove spoke for about 15 minutes at the online brokerage firm, answered a few written questions from employees, and then left without taking questions from reporters. He stuck solely to the Social Security message, not mentioning the bombings that left at least 50 dead in London. Nor did he address the pending investigation into whether Bush administration officials in 2003 illegally leaked the name of a CIA agent to reporters after the agent's husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, publicly criticized the Bush administration's arguments for going to war in Iraq.

DiMartino's characterization of the event as an attempt to "sell a plan that's been unpopular" was echoed by Democratic leaders. The event Friday was closed to the public, and Rove's message was delivered to a company that Ameritrade Chief Operating Officer J. Peter Ricketts said would not directly benefit from partially privatizing Social Security but that he said could "in the grand scheme of things."

The Ricketts family is a large contributor to the GOP, but company officials said Ameritrade made no direct contributions to Bush-Cheney team.

"I think what they're doing is avoiding public, open debate on the issue … in the hopes they will regain momentum" on Social Security, said Steve Achelpohl, chairman of the Nebraska Democratic Party. "Bush's domestic agenda has come to a grinding halt and it's an effort to restart something."

But the main reason for the Nebraska visit, he said, was to raise money for the state GOP and possibly send a signal to Republicans that the Bush administration will back whomever opposes Nelson in the 2006 Senate race. Former GOP state chairman David Kramer will face off against former Attorney General Don Stenberg in next May's Republican primary election.

About 100 people were expected to pay between $500 and $2,500 apiece to meet with Rove at the Burlington Building in downtown Omaha Friday evening.

Shortly before Rove spoke at Ameritrade Friday, GOP State Chairman Mark Quandahl brushed aside speculation that the Bush administration may have needed to use the fundraiser to sooth concerns its ties to Nelson were a sign of abandonment to heavy-hitting Republicans in the state.

"The opposite is true," said Quandahl, who declined to speak about why he thought Nebraska was picked for a Rove trip.

"He's here to talk Social Security," he said.

Reach Nate Jenkins at 473-7223 or njenkins@journalstar.com. The Associated Press contributed to this story.