'Security first' lapses

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The Democrats' biggest challenge in 2004: Convince independent and swing voters that their party can protect the United States.

That's going to be a hard, if not impossible, sell.

Polls show that Americans, by margins of 40 percent or more, trust President Bush and Republicans more than the Democrats to keep our nation safe from terrorism and other security threats. Yet the message coming from Democrats (including most of the party's presidential candidates) is one of weakness, timidity and ambivalence on the most politically pivotal issue of our times.

Intense criticism is being heard lately from Democratic strategists and a few leaders -- all of whom complain that the party's opposition to the war in Iraq and continuous attacks on Mr. Bush's handling of the war on terrorism is hurting Democrats. The gist of their ominous warning: If Democrats can't show that they're tougher than Mr. Bush on national security, the party faces the impossible in 2004.

With the nation on high alert as U.S. intelligence warnings about an al Qaeda terrorist strike increase, the security issue is even more critical for the Democrats -- so much so that it has become a contentious debate within their party.

Consider these charges by top Democrats in just the past few weeks:

c"How can we win this election if we send a message of weakness on defense and security after September 11, 2001, to the American people?" Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut lectured his fellow presidential candidates at a debate in Columbia, S.C., earlier this month.

c"The American people agree with us on many vital issues -- but they believe that we Democrats are weak and indecisive when it comes to standing up to dictators and terrorists, and when it comes to the primary responsibility of government: defending the nation," Democratic strategists Donna Brazile and Timothy Bergreen wrote last week in the Wall Street Journal.

No matter "how compelling our positions" on other issues, "if voters continue to see us as feckless and effete [on national security] they will not listen to our message next year and they will re-elect Mr. Bush," they wrote.