8.12.2006
Can the GOP Use Terrorism to Win -- Again? (CNN.com)
Suspected plot to blow up airliners puts issue front and center
By Bill Schneider
CNN Senior Political Analyst
Friday, August 11, 2006; Posted: 2:07 p.m. EDT (18:07 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Could there be political fallout in the United States from the terror arrests in Britain?
Typically, when Americans become fearful their support for the president tends to go up. President Bush and the Republican Party used the security issue to their advantage in the previous two elections, when they portrayed Democrats as weak and vacillating. Republicans give every indication that they intend to run on the security issue again in 2006.
Vice President Dick Cheney said on Wednesday that one thing he found disturbing about the defeat of Sen. Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut Democratic primary on Tuesday was that "our adversaries in this conflict, the al Qaeda types, clearly are betting on the proposition that ultimately they can break the will of the American people." (Cheney made the comments after he was briefed on the suspected terror plot, according to a senior administration official.)
Republicans may use the issue against Democrats who voted against renewal of the Patriot Act this year. In the House of Representatives, 123 "no" votes were cast by Democrats running either for re-election or for another office. Three "no" votes were cast by Democratic senators seeking re-election -- Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico and Robert Byrd of West Virginia.
(More ... CNN.com - Can the GOP use terrorism to win -- again? - Aug 11, 2006) ¶ 20:49
By Bill Schneider
CNN Senior Political Analyst
Friday, August 11, 2006; Posted: 2:07 p.m. EDT (18:07 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Could there be political fallout in the United States from the terror arrests in Britain?
Typically, when Americans become fearful their support for the president tends to go up. President Bush and the Republican Party used the security issue to their advantage in the previous two elections, when they portrayed Democrats as weak and vacillating. Republicans give every indication that they intend to run on the security issue again in 2006.
Vice President Dick Cheney said on Wednesday that one thing he found disturbing about the defeat of Sen. Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut Democratic primary on Tuesday was that "our adversaries in this conflict, the al Qaeda types, clearly are betting on the proposition that ultimately they can break the will of the American people." (Cheney made the comments after he was briefed on the suspected terror plot, according to a senior administration official.)
Republicans may use the issue against Democrats who voted against renewal of the Patriot Act this year. In the House of Representatives, 123 "no" votes were cast by Democrats running either for re-election or for another office. Three "no" votes were cast by Democratic senators seeking re-election -- Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico and Robert Byrd of West Virginia.
(More ... CNN.com - Can the GOP use terrorism to win -- again? - Aug 11, 2006) ¶ 20:49
