Democrats Assail Bush’s N. Korea Policy

By LIZ SIDOTI

WASHINGTON – Democrats seized on North Korea’s brazen act to criticize President Bush’s record in confronting the communist regime, contending the administration’s focus on Iraq ignored legitimate threats.

Democratic Sen. John Kerry, the president’s rival in 2004 and a potential 2008 candidate, assailed Bush’s policy as a "shocking failure," and said, "While we’ve been bogged down in Iraq where there were no weapons of mass destruction, a madman has apparently tested the ultimate weapon of mass destruction."

One month before midterm elections, North Korea’s reported nuclear test provided Republicans an opportunity to shift the focus from their embarrassing – and politically explosive – congressional page scandal to national security, an issue the GOP considers its strength.

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate’s second-ranking Republican, accused Democrats of playing partisan politics with a nuclear weapons threat. "Listening to some Democrats, you’d think the enemy was George Bush, not Kim Jong Il," he said.

Seizing on North Korea’s actions to argue Republicans are stronger on security than Democrats is riddled with pitfalls and leaves the GOP’s standard-bearer – Bush – as well as his rank-and-file vulnerable to criticism.

The president long has faced complaints that he has failed to sufficiently address North Korea and the threat has festered on his watch.

In the nearly five years since Bush labeled North Korea part of an "axis of evil" with Iran and Iraq, Kim Jong Il’s government has withdrawn from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, announced it has nuclear weapons, refused to return to six-nation talks and launched seven missiles into the Sea of Japan, including a long-range Taepodong-2.

On Sunday, North Korea said it conducted its first-ever nuclear test.

"The Bush administration has for several years been in a state of denial about the growing challenge of North Korea, and has too often tried to downplay the issue or change the subject," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

"We had the opportunity to stop North Korea from increasing its nuclear power, but George Bush went to sleep at the switch while he pursued his narrow agenda in Iraq," added Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat in a tough campaign in New Jersey.

Republicans, in turn, sought to deflect the criticism by lodging some of their own. They voiced their frequent claim that Democrats are weak on security – and dredged up Democratic votes they said illustrated their point.

House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, accused Democrats of standing in the way of work on a missile defense program. "It is now clear that such a position would weaken America’s national defense and put Americans in danger," he said.

"Sherrod Brown’s far left national security positions more troubling in light of North Korean missile test," the Senate Republicans’ campaign committee said in a release that claims Brown voted a dozen times since 1993 to cut funding for ballistic missile defense.

Mindful of the tricky political subtext, some Republicans issued more carefully worded statements or refrained from attacking Democrats altogether.

GOP Sen. Rick Santorum, facing a bitter re-election battle, said in a barely veiled reference to Democrats – "North Korea’s actions cause great concern. This is no time for inexperienced, weak leaders."

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and others directed their anger at the North Koreans, with the speaker calling the test "a desperate act of a criminal regime."

The GOP’s campaign to convince voters that Democratic rule is dangerous for the country was sidetracked when Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., resigned amid revelations that he sent sexually explicit electronic messages to teenage males who once worked as House pages. That set off infighting among Republicans – and knocked the party off its strong-on-safety message.