Centrist Dems Losing Grip on 2006

Just a few short weeks ago Dems of all stripes felt they had a lock on 2006. The President was in retreat with record low approval numbers, and everything was coming up roses for the lefties.

But, alas, not all is well in lefty-town these days. The war by the Dems on the President's anti-terrorist efforts has left the centrists shaking their heads, and coming to the realization that those efforts will not play well with much of America (h/t Captain's Quarters):

Some centrist Democrats say attacks by their party leaders on the Bush administration's eavesdropping on suspected terrorist conversations will further weaken the party's credibility on national security. That concern arises from recent moves by liberal Democrats to block the extension of parts of the USA Patriot Act in the Senate and denunciations of President Bush amid concerns that these initiatives could violate the civil liberties of innocent Americans.

"I think when you suggest that civil liberties are just as much at risk today as the country is from terrorism, you've gone too far if you leave that impression. I don't believe that's true," said Michael O'Hanlon, a national-security analyst at the Brookings Institution who advises Democrats on defense issues. ...

"The Republicans still hold the advantage on every national-security issue we tested," said Mark Penn, a Democratic pollster and former adviser to President Clinton, who co-authored a Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) memo on the party's national-security weaknesses.

Nervousness among Democrats intensified earlier this month after Democrats led a filibuster against the Patriot Act that threatened to block the measure, followed by a victory cry from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, who declared at a party rally, "We killed the Patriot Act." ...

Recent polls say 56 percent of Americans approve of the job Mr. Bush is doing to protect the country from another terrorist attack.

Thanks to Dem leadership like Harry Reid, Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosi, a GOP majority in both houses is looking more and more like a sure bet in '06 and the foreseeable future.