THE IRRESISTIBLE TAR BABY

Democrats Now Attacking Bush on Security (RON FOURNIER, 5/19/03, AP)

Bush opened himself to second-guessing when he said in early May, "Al-Qaida is on the run. Right now, about half of all the top al-Qaida operatives are either jailed or dead. In either case, they're not a problem any more."

A few days later, explosions rocked Riyadh, the Saudi capital, in an attack on compounds housing Americans, other Westerners and Saudis. That was followed by bombings in Morocco.

"The president keeps saying, `We're going to get them.' Well, it's not working," Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt told an audience of 75 at an Ottumwa, Iowa, union hall.

Gephardt supported war in Iraq, a position that drew criticism from the liberal Democrats, who tend to dominate in primary races. Now he says Bush is guilty of having "one-dimensional answers" to terror threats, a reference to military power.

Another war supporter, Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, wrote in a Boston Globe op-ed Monday that Bush failed to ensure that suspected weapons of mass destruction sites were quickly secured and has mishandled the management of the Iraqi oil industry. [...]

Kerry told CBS that the administration should have insisted on better security at the Saudi sites, which housed Americans and other Westerners. On the nation's overall anti-terrorism effort, he said: "We need to be stronger and smarter and tougher."

In Des Moines, national security dominated a union-sponsored forum with five of the candidates Saturday.

Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina said the administration has failed to gives states and local governments enough money to meet their emergency and other homeland defense needs.

Al Sharpton of New York cited the failure to catch terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden, and said: "We need to go after those who went after us."

Sitting in the back of the crowd, Drake University political science professor Dennis Goldford said the Democrats seemed to be finding their voice.

"They're challenging Bush on his own terms," he said. "They're finding that nice balance--attacking Bush while still showing that Democrats are concerned about national security."

Let's see if we have this straight, homeland security has not been breached by terrorists since 9-11 and three terror supporting governments have been toppled, so the Democrats are reduced to the following: be tougher; impose greater security measures on the Saudis; take better care of Iraq's oil; give the states more money anyway. If the Democrats really are finding their voice, it's Pee Wee Herman's. Barring a major attack on U.S. soil they sound ridiculous. Posted by Orrin Judd at May 20, 2003 10:17 AM