The Democrats would like to run against President Bush as though Sept. 11 never happened. Last night, at the debate in South Carolina, John Kerry kicked off that effort by claiming that the Bush administration has exaggerated the terrorist threat. The Washington Times reports:

    "I think there has been an exaggeration," Mr. Kerry said when asked whether President Bush has overstated the threat of terrorism. "They are misleading all Americans in a profound way. This administration's arrogant and ideological policy is taking America down a more dangerous path," Mr. Kerry said. "I will make America safer than they are."

John Edwards responded with a note of sanity: "It's just hard for me to see how you can say there's an exaggeration when thousands of people lost their lives on September 11."

The New York Times buried Kerry's stunning charge deep in its story on the debate, while the Washington Post didn't bother to mention it at all.

DEACON adds: Yesterday, I promised to articulate why I think conservatives should stick with Presdent Bush. This post captures the essence of the argument I've been trying to formulate. Most liberal Democrats have never been willing to recognize that extent to which terrorism threatens this country. The divide between these Democrats and Bush isn't a disagreement over tactics (should we attack the terrrorists where they live and breed or just deal with them when they try to operate here), although that disagreement might be reason enough to support Bush. The divide is over whether 9/11 was a fluke or a defining moment. With these stakes, Bush could triple the NEA budget and put Barbra Streisand in charge of it, and I'd still support him in this year's race.

Posted by John at 06:59 AM  |    |  

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