Sometimes, I could just scream

This is what I was talking about when I railed against the DCCC for yanking an ad that attacked the GOP over Iraq after Republicans complained about it.

The GOP understands that in the current political climate, national security trumps everything. This is why national security is what Republican politicians spend the most time talking about. It is why voters give Republicans the benefit of the doubt on matters of national security. It has worked for five years, and it will continue to work for the forseeable future. It does not matter that the president and his party have done nothing to make us safer, and that they have, in fact, implemented policies that have led to increased terrorist activity worldwide. What matters is that Republicans continue to say they are making us safer, and that Democrats refuse to call them on it.

The sad pattern continues.

Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday rejected a call from some Democrats for a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, arguing that it would run counter to American interests.

"Either we are serious about fighting this war or we are not," Cheney told an Iowa audience in his first visit to the state since the 2004 election.

Several congressional Democrats favor the initial steps of drawing down U.S. forces in Iraq, a proposal that has divided the party but united Republicans who accuse the opposition of a "cut-and-run" approach.

[...]

Cheney said the administration's hard-line stance on terrorism has paid off with a lack of terrorist activity in the United States since the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Obviously, no one can guarantee we won't be hit again, but the relative safety of this past nearly five years did not come about by accident," he said. "It came about because we waged an effort on every front, and we must not let up for a moment."

Even before Cheney's appearance, Democrats issued their own criticism of the vice president and Lamberti.

"If Republicans retain control of the House, the Senate and the White House, they will privatize Social Security," said Iowa Democratic Party Executive Director Mike Milligan.

Cheney says Democrats will let terrorists kill you and your children. The Democrats respond by sniping at the GOP over the minimum wage and Social Security.

When I was a high school debater, I learned that if you leave a point unanswered, you concede it to your opponent. Refusing to challenge the GOP on its national security rhetoric is, for all practical purposes, an admission that they are right.

The Bush administration and the Republican Party are fighting to win in the 2006 elections. The Democrats have to start acting as though they understand how important it is to beat them.