By Ben White
The Washington Post
Proving that partisan politics never rests, Republican operatives circulated a poll last week purporting to show how the new age of anthrax envelopes and air attacks has restored the GOP’s traditional advantage on national security issues.
The GOP firm of Fabrizio, McLaughlin &Associates surveyed 1,000 adults. On fighting terrorism, 56 percent of respondents said they would trust a Republican candidate; 17 percent backed the Democrats. On strengthening the military, 66 percent went Republican, 18 percent Democratic.
"A new political environment, similar to the height of the Cold War, has emerged," a poll summary claimed. "We have replaced a menacing Soviet threat in the ’80s with the new threat of international terrorism. Security and military issues are once again front and center in the voters’ minds, and this places Republicans in a hospitable political landscape for the first time in years."
So what are Democrats to do now that few people appear to be stewing over the fate of the Social Security surplus?
Party spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri said the numbers reflect general support for President Bush and the war effort but will not translate into impact on state and local races. As evidence, she pointed to leads held by the party’s gubernatorial candidates in Virginia and New Jersey.
"We have real evidence that our candidates are continuing to do well because voters continue to trust Democrats on the economy," she said.
Palmieri also noted that the party will attempt to make the case that in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks the Bush administration has embraced the same expansive world view that Democrats had been advocating.
"It is the Democratic Party that better understands the 21st century economy and 21st-century threats," she said. "We had been pushing the administration to adopt the type of policies they are in fact now adopting."
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