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Rick O'Donnell has to handle his record like a hippie talking about dope to a teenager. Sure things were kind of shady when he ran the Colorado Department of Regulatory Affairs just the way his energy industry benefactors wanted him to, but that's in the past. The higher-ed commission stint wasn't too good either -- crumbling buildings, lawsuits, disastrous vouchers-that-aren't (with more lawsuits), David Horowitz...but that was the Old Rick O'Donnell. The New Rick O'Donnell loves you, your kid's teacher, and -- wait for it -- Social Security.

O'Donnell backpedals on Social Security

Republican congressional candidate Rick O'Donnell tried to take the steam out of anticipated attack ads by acknowledging Monday that he wrote an essay 11 years ago calling for the abolishment of Social Security.

O'Donnell, 36, said he has since changed his position and wants voters to know, before Democrats slam him, that he now favors fixing Social Security, not abandoning it.

His essay, titled "For Freedom's Sake, Eliminate Social Security," was published in February 1995, when he was editing American Civilization, a publication of Newt Gingrich's Progress and Freedom Foundation.

"As we bury the rest of the welfare state in preparation for the 21st century, it is time to slay the largest government 'entitlement' program of all, Social Security," O'Donnell wrote.

Democrats said Monday that they knew about the essay and had discussed how they might exploit it later in the 7th Congressional District campaign that's expected to be one of the hardest-fought in the country. They said O'Donnell's stated change of heart shows he is trying to portray himself to voters as less right-wing than he really is...

He's a crafty little guy with the perfect suit and hair that never, ever moves. But once you take a closer look, things get a little less neat and sparkly...