CRAWFORD, Texas — Two years after President Bush won reelection having painted his opponent as soft on terrorists and weak on national security, Democrats have seized on the latest alleged terrorism plot in hopes of turning the political tables on the White House.
Their aggressive stance was evident hours after British authorities announced they had disrupted a plot to blow up airplanes: Leading Democrats blamed the terrorism threat on "mismanagement" by the Bush administration and charged that the Iraq war had become a "rallying cry" for the enemy.
On Friday, Democrats continued with a series of sharp statements accusing the White House of exploiting the case for political gain.
Party strategists said they had steered clear of such loaded language in similarly sensitive cases out of fear of stirring up voters on an issue that, since 2001, has largely helped Republicans. But Democrats said they were determined now to maintain their criticism through the November elections, citing public anxiety over the Iraq war and other foreign policy challenges that might, for the first time in three election cycles, lessen the GOP advantage.
The new strategy, spearheaded largely by the Senate Democratic leadership, is a direct response to surveys showing that Republicans hold only a marginal lead over Democrats when voters are asked whom they trust to keep the country safer.
But Republicans believe episodes like the alleged British terrorism plot play to their favor.
"If the Republican Party thinks that this is going to be a good political issue for them, they're mistaken," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), chairman of the committee that sets Democratic strategy for Senate campaigns. "We are going to answer them immediately."
Schumer's committee issued a blistering memo Friday that, among other things, said Vice President Dick Cheney knew of the alleged terrorism plot when he conducted a rare conference call with reporters Wednesday in which he suggested that "Al Qaeda types" would be emboldened by this week's Connecticut Democratic primary victory by political newcomer Ned Lamont, an opponent of the Iraq war seeking a Senate seat.
The White House said Friday that Cheney was aware of a plot when he made his call but did not know the timing of the impending British arrests.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called it "disgraceful" that Cheney used such rhetoric while knowing what was about to transpire in Britain.
