Seeking to counter White House efforts to turn the reported terrorist plot in Britain to Republican advantage, Democrats are using the arrests of the suspects to try to show Americans how the war in Iraq has fueled Islamic radicalism and distracted Mr. Bush and the Republican Congress from shoring up security at home. They say they intend to drive that message home as the nation observes the coming anniversaries of Hurricane Katrina and the Sept. 11 attacks.The Republicans will come back with a lot of bluster and strawmen. The president is already at it with his attacks on the mythical "some people," as if there was a coeterie of Democrats who really wish we weren't strong in our defense. But he can't name them because there aren't any, and so far what we've gotten from the Bushies is a lot of big talk, a failure to implement the 9/11 commission recommendations, the closure of the CIA office that was dedicated to the pursuit of Osama bin Laden, a budgetary cutback in airport security, no increase in rail or port security, and the conflation of Iraq and terrorists with explosive hair gel.
But they are not waiting. A video Monday on the Web site of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee showed footage of Osama bin Laden, referred to an increase in terror attacks, highlighted illegal immigration and pointed out the nuclear aspirations of Iran and North Korea.
“Feel safer?” it concludes. “Vote for change.”
[...]
Those statements and others challenging Republicans head-on over antiterror initiatives are a sharp contrast to Democrats’ actions in the two previous elections, when they stumbled in the face of Republican efforts to paint them as weak. Democrats say polls show that Republicans and Mr. Bush have lost stature on the subject on terrorism as Americans have become disillusioned with the war in Iraq. They also believe that more voters are able to separate the war from efforts to protect the nation against terror attacks.
“During the 2002 and 2004 elections, Republicans tried to sow fear in the American public by claiming that they were the only ones who could keep America safe,” Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, said in an e-mail message to supporters. “This from the same crowd that has driven Iraq to the brink of disaster, left Osama Bin Laden on the loose to attack again and continues to ignore our security needs at home.”
It's interesting to see the Democrats use one of Karl Rove's famous techniques -- turning your one of your opponent's alleged strengths into their worst nightmare -- to their own advantage. How about that for karma?
