Political Battle Over Homeland Security

Homeland security is President Bush's issue, but his Democratic rivals are determined to take it back.

Presidential hopefuls Sens. John Kerry and Joe Lieberman criticized the Bush administration on Tuesday for a budget they say inadequately funds first responders and others responsible for the nation's defense.

Kerry, in a speech to the International Association of Firefighters, proposed a $50 billion program in which members of the National Guard and AmeriCorps would be trained for homeland security and the domestic intelligence system would be overhauled.

"Thus far the federal government has provided too little support, provided too little leadership and provided too little vision for the common defense of our homeland," said the Massachusetts senator.

Lieberman, who leveled similar criticism of the White House on Monday before the same firefighting group, on Tuesday cited the administration's spending on homeland security in a broadside on Bush's budget and proposed tax cuts. The Connecticut senator has called for a $16 billion increase in spending on homeland security, including $7.5 billion for police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel.

"All the tough talk about homeland security won't deliver real results unless there's new money for more people, training and technology," Lieberman said in a statement.

Still, political analysts from both parties say it will be tough for Democrats to seize the issue from Bush.

"He holds the cards in that game because he signed the bill, he is the president and he is the commander in chief," said Democratic media consultant Jim Duffy. "He tells people 'I'm doing everything I can to protect this country.' "

In a bipartisan poll released last week, eight of 10 respondents said they think the president protects the United States and its people "well or very well." The same survey, conducted by the GOP polling firm of Public Opinion Strategies and the Democratic firm of Greenberg, Quinlan and Rosner, asked which political party would do a better job on homeland security — 48 percent said Republicans, 23 percent said Democrats.

"I don't see how they possibly think they have an ounce of traction today," GOP pollster Bill McInturff said in an interview Monday.

Homeland security was once Lieberman's issue. Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Lieberman, then chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, pushed hard for consolidating disparate agencies into a single homeland security department. The administration resisted for months until last spring when it proposed a major reorganization.

Although Lieberman worked on the Senate floor to see the proposal become law, Democrats slowed the effort, trying to undo the president's plan to impose personnel rules they believed would undermine the right of labor unions. The fight dragged on through the November elections, and Bush assailed the Democrats for delaying creation of the homeland security department. Democratic defeats in the Georgia and Missouri Senate races were blamed, in part, on the homeland security issue.