And though polls have shown that certain aspects of the Patriot Act are unpopular when they are explained to voters, responses to broader questions suggest general support for the law.
More than six in 10 respondents to a February Gallup/CNN/USA Today survey said the law is just about right or does not go far enough, though only about one-fourth said it goes too far.
Experts think the law will grow in popularity, at least in the short term, as dramatic pictures of bomb blasts in Iraq, Spain and Saudi Arabia heighten fear that an attack could happen in the U.S. again.
Administration officials have even speculated openly in recent days, without revealing any evidence to back up their claims, that terrorists could be planning attacks to coincide with the presidential election in November.
"It's the only area where Bush gets positive numbers, and his strategy is to find every way to talk about the war on terror, whether it's the Patriot Act or Iraq," said Steve Murphy, a Democratic strategist who managed the unsuccessful presidential campaign this year of Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri.
The change in tone is evident in the words of Kerry. In December, weeks before the critical Iowa caucuses, Kerry delivered a blistering speech railing against key elements of the Patriot Act and chiding Ashcroft, telling a partisan crowd that the law should be replaced.
"At this very moment, an FBI agent could be rifling through every website you've ever visited, and you would never know it," Kerry said in his Iowa City speech.
"A Justice Department official in Washington could be reading every e-mail you've sent in the last few months -- and they wouldn't need a judge's permission or even a reason to do so," he added.
"Federal investigators could be demanding and receiving upon request your private hospital medical records," Kerry said. "Law enforcement officers could be entering your house while you are gone -- rifling through your possessions -- and leaving without every letting you know they had been there."
At the time, Kerry was struggling to explain why he voted for the law, parts of which are set to expire in 2005. He said it contained "good ideas," even taking credit for writing part of it, but that Bush and Ashcroft abused their new investigating powers for purposes beyond fighting terrorism.
"It clearly wasn't a perfect bill -- and it had a number of flaws -- but this wasn't the time to haggle. It was the time to act," Kerry said in December.
