We learned over the weekend that the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) confirmed many of our worst fears about the effects of the war in Iraq. The president’s rhetoric notwithstanding, the war is making the terrorist threat worse, not better.
Almost as soon as the NIE revelations were splashed across front-pages, Glenn Greenwald, among others, argued that Democrats could use the NIE report and “air it over and over and over every single day as much as possible until November 7.” It seems as if some Dem candidates couldn’t agree more.
It took three days for Democrats to begin running attack ads referencing the leaked National Intelligence Estimate report that concluded the war in Iraq has spurred a new generation of militant Islamists and terrorists.
In Connecticut, Democrat Chris Murphy, who is running against Republican Rep. Nancy Johnson, released an ad this afternoon that says Johnson’s support of President Bush “has increased the threat of terrorism and made us less secure here at home.”
The ad is online here, and it’s pretty good. More importantly, it’s pretty timely.
And more important still, it’s the first of many.
Roll Call reported today that the NIE has become an integral part of the Dems’ fall campaign strategy.
Bill Burton, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said another candidate has produced ads related to the NIE and several others are in the works, signaling Democrats expect to use the leaked intelligence briefing to tear down Republicans’ national security credentials before the midterm elections.
At a news conference Wednesday, DCCC Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.) and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Charles Schumer (N.Y.) challenged Republicans to distance themselves from Bush’s dismissal of the NIE.
Schumer said the week’s events provide rosy news for Democrats looking to take control of Congress.
“It’s been a bad week for George Bush. It’s been a bad week for Republican candidates,” Schumer said. “We are feeling very, very good about our chances. The numbers keep getting better and better and better in every part of the country.”
It’s encouraging to see the Dems take advantage of this gift-wrapped opportunity.