The Democrats are doing more than merely attacking Mr. Bush's competence. They are also by implication attacking his motives and intentions. And by doing this they are setting him up for a backlash if there is another next terrorist attack on this country. If and when such terrorist attack comes, the Demos will be saying: "See - we told you so, he and his adminstration don't know what they are doing, or they lack the will to prevent it." Now this is a truly an outrageous political move and goes way beyond partisan politics - it is now undermining Mr. Bush's ability to lead and defend the country.
Mr. Bush must stop this before it gets out of hand, and the first thing he must do is release some records of what the prior administration failed to do for eight years - to put the Demos on the defensive. Secondly, he must stop playing nice with the Demos and start fighting for Republican causes. And third, he must start mobilizing public opinion for the war against Iraq. If the Demos succeed in their campaign of innuendo and slander, there will be no further positive actions taken to prevent terrorist attacks in this country.
What worked for Mr. Bush in Texas - his decency and spirit of cooperation - is not working for him in Washington, mainly I think because at the national level the Democrats care about advancing their own party's interests more than they care about advancing the good of the country. The only way they can advance their party's interests these days is to attempt to undermine Mr. Bush's popularity by calling into question his competence and motives as Commander in Chief.