Take a look at this Ellis Weiner post on Huffpo. His main point? He claims that something has been long overlooked, despite its current obviousness:
The reason Americans think the Democratic Party is “weak on terror” or “weak on security” is because Democrats don’t stand up to Republicans.
Could anything be more (retrospectively) obvious? (I’m not saying no one else here has realized this. But I hadn’t, and I haven’t read anyone, anywhere, making as big a deal about it as should be made. So indulge my enthusiasm.) This picks up on everyone’s ecstasy over Bill Clinton’s sharp and, really, pretty unrelenting retort to the odious Chris Wallace recently.
Weiner energetically develops his main point with some good sharp writing.
I had my own "eureka" moment when reading the article Erich referred us to. I have always taken offense at the way Bush talks down to us. Now I realize, it was the way he was given the information. His aides have to talk to him like he's an idiot, otherwise there is no chance of him understanding. Maybe that is where reasonable discourse has gone awry. Idiots don't understand it.
No doubt this explains why Kerry didn't trounce Bush in the last election (or, rather, didn't trounce him by a bigger margin than he did): Kerry couldn't even defend himself against verbal attacks from the swift boat critics, so how could he convince American voters he would defend them from terrorists? Kerry just didn't project himself as a fighter.
This is why I am guardedly optimistic about Russ Feingold (senator from Wisconsin) perhaps becoming America's next president. Feingold has not only been correct about the big issues he has voted on (opposing the invasion of Iraq and the unconstitutional elements of the Patriot Act; supporting stem cell research and reproductive rights; etc.), but he shows the courage of his convictions by doing what is right for America (i.e., in the long-term) if it is unpopular in the short-term. He is one of the few prominent Democrats who is both smart and tough enough to oppose Republican foolishness without looking like a wimp.