The Dems help Rove strategy

Donald Lambro:

White House strategist Karl Rove has given Democrats advance notice that the central issue in this year's midterm elections will be who can keep America safe from terrorism.
Barring some new unforeseen issue that will trump all others, Mr. Rove is betting that the question of which party can be trusted to protect Americans from al Qaeda will remain one of the chief national concerns this year and, polls show, the Republicans' strongest issue.
With a new Iraqi coalition government being formed in the aftermath of last month's elections, and a fast-growing, better-trained Iraqi security force raising the hope of some U.S. troop drawdowns later this year, you might think that the terrorist threat would be receding as a campaign issue.
But the Democrats have unwittingly been playing into Republican hands by making national security a much larger issue than it might ordinarily be because of their fierce opposition to renewal of key provisions in the anti-terrorist Patriot Act, an irresponsible boast by Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid that Democrats had "killed the Patriot Act," and a full-blown, all-out attack on President Bush for his aggressive use of advanced satellite spy technology to listen in on what the terrorists are plotting next.

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Terrorist madman and mastermind Osama bin Laden helped the GOP's cause last week, too, when he released a recorded statement that warned of another impending attack on America. It was a blood-chilling reminder that whatever progress we've made in Iraq, al Qaeda terrorists are plotting to strike again to kill as many of us as they can.

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If there is one Democratic quote that will be at the heart of the GOP's campaign warcry this year, it is Mr. Reid's wild boast that he killed the Patriot Act, the post-September 11, bipartisan response by Congress to give intelligence agencies and law enforcement officials the special powers needed to track down terrorists in our midst before they can kill again.
Mr. Reid's irresponsible statement, which was broadcast around the world, and his party's efforts to block and delay the law's reauthorization, despite the terrorist threat, is going to be the mantra in this year's GOP campaigns.
Mr. Rove framed the issue this way: "Republicans want to renew the Patriot Act -- and Democratic leaders take special delight in trying to kill it. This is an issue worthy of public debate."
The other national security issue that Republicans plan to use against the Democrats will be President Bush's post-September 11 order to the National Security Agency to conduct communications intercepts of conversations between terrorists and their agents in this country, even, when necessary, without a court order.

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