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Republican Sen. Rand Paul (left) and his Democratic challenger, Lexington Mayor Jim Gray, during Fancy Farm 2016.(Photo: Matt Stone/CJ)Buy Photo

WASHINGTON Sen. Rand Paul has never been shy about touching thethird rail of politics Social Security reform. In a new campaign ad, he defends his proposals as a way to save the retirement program, not gut it.

Pauls Democratic challenger, Lexington Mayor Jim Gray, recently launched an attack on Pauls ideas allowing people to put some of their Social Security taxes intopersonal investment accounts and raisingthe retirement age as ominous threats to seniors.

But in a new ad scheduled to start airing Thursday, Paulsays his approachshows courage and sets him apart from skittish politicians who fear the tough choices necessaryto addressSocial Security's serious financial problems. The entitlement program isdeep in the red because there are fewer workers and more retirees.

I support proposals that would fully fund the shortfall in Social Security while preserving the system for seniors and implementing reforms to save the program for younger generations, Paul says in the new ad.

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The back-and-forth between Paul and Gray illustrates a classic election-year battlebetween Republicans and Democrats overhow to keep Social Security solvent without slashing benefits or raising taxes. Paul is a Republican running for a second term.

In 1970, there were 3.7 workers for every senior collecting Social Security. That figure will dropto 2.3 in 2030. Benefits will have to shrink if the program's deficit isn't addressed.

Although his ad doesnt mention it, Paul has advocated raising the retirement age to help keep Social Security solvent and accommodate longer life expectancy. In his 2013 federal budget proposal, for example, he suggested gradually raising the retirement age to 70 over 15 years. The current normal retirement age is 66, but it will rise to 67for those born after 1960.

Raising the retirement age would help Social Security because people would pay into the system over a longer period. But Democrats generally oppose the idea, in part because life expectancy is frequently tied to personal income, and they believe lower-incomeworkers would be shortchanged compared to the wealthy.

Grays ad also mentions Pauls push to let people invest their portion of the Social Security tax in personal accounts, which was part of Paul's fiscal 2014 budget proposal. Theidea is typically referred to as "privatization" of Social Security, but Paul prefers to describe it as personalization. Democrats oppose it as too risky, citing the volatility of the stock market.

Individual accounts offer full ownership and property rights that give retirees control over their retirement, Paul's 2014 proposal stated. A degree of risk is inherent to planning for ones future. To do nothing, leaving the program as is, will mean higher costs and lower returns for todays workers.

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Paul has responded to Gray's attacks with the new ad, but also byaccusing Gray of trying to scare senior citizens.

Dr. Paul has put forth concrete plans for saving both Social Security and Medicare, and anyone who would engage in the tactics of a typical politicianand demagogue the issue should be ashamed of themselves, said Kelsey Cooper, a spokeswoman for Pauls re-election campaign.

Neither candidate's ads mention a possible area of agreement on modifyingSocial Security's financing. Currently, the program taxeswages up to $118,500. Several reform advocates have suggested raising thatcap.

Gray's campaign website says raising the cap is one option that could ensure long-term stability.

Paul issued a dramatic tax reform proposal when he was running for presidentthat would have eliminatedthe current payroll tax and replaced it with a business transfers tax. That tax would have applied to 100 percent of a worker's wages, not just the first $118,500, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.

Contact Mary Troyan at mtroyan@usatoday.com.

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Rand Paul, Jim Gray trade barbs on Social Security