What you have to remember is that Democrats give credit based upon popularity.
No, I don't mean Clinton's popularity, but rather I mean on the popularity of the idea at issue.
So when a Democrat starts saying that Clinton deserves credit for something, it means that "something" is now popular.
Which is to say in this case that our military is now popular, the precise opposite result of what Clinton protested for back in the 1960's.
Moreover, this means that even the Democrats are conceding that having a strong military is a "good" thing.
For Democrats at large, this is a major shift. Only a select few held this position in the recent past.
That it comes from a California Democrat should be scaring the bejesus out of the Party hierarchy.
After all, if a mighty military is now popular in California, what precisely does that suggest the voters in that state will do in 2004?!