Homeland Security

DATE=3/30/2004

TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT

TITLE=U-S / POL / CLARKE

NUMBER=5-55104

BYLINE=JIM MALONE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: A new poll suggests a majority of the American public still has confidence in President Bush's leadership in the war on terrorism despite recent allegations from former counter-terrorism official Richard Clarke. Mr. Clarke told the independent commission investigating the 2001 terrorist attacks that the president paid too little attention to the threat from al-Qaida before the attacks and focused too much on Iraq afterward. National correspondent Jim Malone has more on how the Clarke charges could impact this year's presidential election.

TEXT: The new poll was conducted by the U-S-A Today newspaper, the Cable News Network and the Gallup organization. It found that 58-percent of those surveyed approved of the president's handling of the terrorism issue. But that figure is the lowest rating for the president on that issue since the September 11th terrorist attacks, indicating that the charges from former counter-terrorism chief Richard Clarke may be having an impact on the public.

Mr. Clarke continues to make the rounds of interview programs, defending his assertion that the president could have been tougher on al-Qaida before the attacks. He also condemns what he believes is a White House campaign to discredit him, as he did here on NBC's 'Meet the Press' program.

/// CLARKE ACT ///

People on the taxpayers rolls, dozens of them, are engaged in a campaign to destroy me, personally and professionally, because I had the temerity to suggest that the American people should consider whether or not the president had done a good job in the war on terrorism.

/// END ACT ///

White House officials deny that the president ignored the threat from al-Qaida. They also say Mr. Clarke is making the charges because he is trying to sell his book, an account of his years as a top counter-terrorism official in both the Bush and Clinton administrations.

Wherever he goes, the president now makes it a point to remind voters about his record on terrorism and the reasons for invading both Afghanistan and Iraq.

/// BUSH ACT ///

We used to think that oceans can protect us. We now realize that America can be a battleground and therefore, we have to do everything in our power to protect America. We are doing everything at home that we can. But I want to tell you that the best way to protect America is stay on the offense and get the terrorists before they get us (applause).

/// END ACT ///

Even with the dip in support for the president suggested by the new poll, most analysts believe Mr. Bush's leadership in the war on terrorism is likely to play to his benefit in the election.

Ivo Daalder served with Richard Clarke on the National Security Council during the Clinton administration. He now writes about U-S foreign policy at the Brookings Institution here in Washington.

/// 1ST DAALDER ACT ///

George Bush is going to play to his strength. And it is a strength and I think John Kerry knows and the Democrats ought to know that Republicans and George Bush have an extraordinary advantage if this is an election about national security.

/// END ACT ///

Most political analysts were not surprised by the swift and aggressive response from the Bush White House to the charges made by Mr. Clarke.

Ross Baker is a political scientist at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

/// BAKER ACT ///

The keystone of the president's re-election bid is the assertion that he has done a great deal to protect the nation. And so therefore, this (Clarke allegations) really under cuts the principle rationale for re-electing the president and that is why it hurts them so badly. So, it has forced them to go on the attack with unusual ferocity against Clarke.

/// END ACT ///

The president's presumed Democratic opponent in the November election, Senator John Kerry, has said relatively little about the Clarke controversy. But analyst Ivo Daalder says the Kerry campaign will probably try to use the Clarke critique to its benefit at some point.

/// 2ND DAALDER ACT ///

The Bush story is we got attacked, I stood up and I defended the nation. I am strong, decisive and capable. And it is a very, very powerful story. What Clarke has done is provided another narrative (version), which is you became president, you paid no attention to the threat, you did not do enough, we got attacked and then you went after the wrong enemy. And because you went after the wrong enemy, terrorism now is a greater threat than it was even on 9-11.

/// END ACT ///

The new poll by U-S-A Today found the public split on the Clarke charges at the moment with 44-percent backing Mr. Clarke and 46-percent supporting the administration.

The president's overall approval rating is at 53-percent in the U-S-A Today-C-N-N-Gallup poll, a figure that experts say historically bodes well for an incumbent president seeking re-election. (Signed)

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