Dubai ports issue winner for Dems?

1st time polls show Americans
oppose GOP on security issue

New polls show the Democrats have found an issue that could take away the advantage Republicans have enjoyed on issues of national security.

A survey by Rasmussen Reports indicated Americans opposed the Bush administration's decision to allow the Dubai government to control terminals in U.S. ports by 64 percent to 17 percent.

For the first time ever, Rasmussen observed, "voters preferred Democrats in Congress over the President on national security."

Rasmussen contends Republicans "cannot retain control of Congress following November's election if the Democrats are competitive on national security issues."

In the 2002 election, at a time when just 23 percent of Americans rated the economy as good or excellent, Republicans were able to regain control of the Senate, largely on the strength of the president's position on national security, Rasmussen said.

"Two years later, 51 percent of Americans thought the U.S. and its allies were winning the war on terror and the president was re-elected with 51 percent of the vote."

Rasmussen cited leading political analyst Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia.

"Since 9-11, Bush's consistent political advantage has been the public's confidence in him to handle the terrorist threat," Sabato said. "The Iraq war has weakened Bush's edge, and now the Dubai ports misstep may destroy it. This has become a troubled and tone-deaf Presidency."

Rasmussen's latest survey finds the percentage of Americans who think the U.S. and its allies are winning the war on terror has dipped below 40 percent and is near the lowest levels ever recorded.

By a 2-to-1 margin, Americans think things in Iraq are likely to get worse in the next six months.

"That's the bleakest assessment since the first votes were cast in Iraq over a year ago," Rasmussen said.

With nine months until election day, much can happen, Rasmussen noted, but "the situation in Iraq has given the Democrats the opportunity to regain majority status in Congress; the Dubai ports issue has provided a rallying point; and the president has lost the initiative on his signature issue."