“The legislation that is being pushed by the Bush administration would allow it to eavesdrop on conversations without a FISA warrant and with no meaningful oversight,” said Harry Gural. “Fergus Cullen should find this extremely troubling. There is one thing that prevents the government from spying on Americans without a court warrant – and it’s called the U.S. Constitution.”
One senior party strategist said Republicans would also use the controversy against Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.). The Republican said that Clinton and Obama failed to show leadership on a crucial question by not pressing House leaders to pass Senate legislation extending wiretapping authority.
McCain advisers say the likely Republican nominee will now begin to make more of an effort to draw contrasts between himself and the Democratic contenders on big issues such as taxes, government spending, and his forte, national security. McCain, a former prisoner of war, is the senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Republicans are honing their message in congressional districts around the country. Freshman Democratic Reps. Chris Murphy (Conn.), Zack Space (Ohio), Charlie Wilson (Ohio), Harry Mitchell (Ariz.), Gabrielle Giffords (Ariz.), and Nancy Boyda (Kan.) are among those who have received partisan blows in recent days.
Connecticut state Sen. David Cappiello (R), a candidate in Connecticut’s 5th district, blasted Murphy for “stonewalling” intelligence legislation, calling him “completely irresponsible.”
Local media outlets have also picked up on the controversy. The Connecticut Post, which covers parts of Murphy’s district, published a story Friday that reported on the accusations by local Republicans that “Chris Murphy and Democrats have chosen inaction and are skipping town.”
Republican challengers have also highlighted the issue in open-seat races. Republican candidate Darren White, who is running to replace Rep. Heather Wilson (R) in New Mexico’s 1st district, has used the surveillance debate as a cudgel against Democrat Martin Heinrich.
But Doug Thornell, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said it would be more productive if Republicans focused on reaching a bipartisan solution instead of exploiting the issue for political gain.
“It’s unfortunate that Republicans are once again resorting to political attacks and fear mongering to protect the big phone companies instead of working with Democrats on an important national security issue,” said Thornell.
“When the President returns from his weeklong overseas trip maybe he can explain why he put the interests of Ma Bell ahead of the American people.”
The fact that Democratic leaders decided to allow the intelligence law to lapse signals they’ve grown more confident on national security issues. Just six months ago, when Republicans forced them into a similar standoff, Democrats backed down quickly and passed temporary legislation granting Bush the expanded powers he had demanded. The capitulation sparked widespread criticism among Democratic activists.
This time Democrats have decided to face the blows they’ve received repeatedly over the past several days.
“If we’re afraid to stand up to that then we don’t deserve to be here,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.).
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