[maxter]

"I'm here to tell you that outside of FR and some of the talk shows, no one GIVES A DAMN about the ports.

Got to disagree. When my in-laws want to call DC to register their outrage, it is a new day.

[LS]

In the short run, perhaps, but in the long run, it all redounds to Bush's/GOP strength, because the contrast with the Dems is so stark, and if, by RAISING the national security/port issue, they put it foremost in people's minds, then all that has happened is that the GOP comes out ahead.

Look at the next logical step in the debate: it will not be about ports, but about illegal immigration, which, while hardly a Bush strenght, is absolute death to the Dems. They cannot win this debate. Don't confuse short-term concern with long-term assessment of the two parties.