"Americans realize we are at war, even if Howard Dean doesn't."
Jed Babbin, a former undersecretary of state, implies the Democrats and Al Qaeda have a similar short-term goal:

Since 9/11, we have a right to be impatient. Americans realize we are at war, even if Howard Dean doesn't. Nations that ask us to understand them need themselves to understand: it is as much their burden as ours. Just because we are - militarily - the world's most powerful nation, that doesn't mean that it is our burden, and ours alone, to bring peace to the world. Our first duty is to win this war.

These nations also need to realize that our impatience will boil over if there is another 9/11. Many of them will refuse to believe it, but in many ways we under-reacted to 9/11. If there is another, no American president will have the luxury of a patient investigation about how it happened. The Afghanistan campaign will seem like Sunday school to whomever had harbored or helped the perpetrators. And those nations - again, Saudi Arabia is the best example - who talk peace but pay for terror may not survive.

For us, it is a time to be more cautious, not necessarily patient. We have to remember that terrorism's aim is not to kill. It is to intimidate so that men and nations bow to the terrorists' political objectives. We are vulnerable, and any new attacks will be designed to do two things. First, they will be planned to interfere with Mr. Bush's reelection. That means the terrorists will attempt to cause very large numbers of casualties again, or a land a huge blow on our economy, or both. The most recent warnings that al Qaeda may be able to use WMD against us in the continental U.S. is simply a recognition of reality.

If such an attack succeeds, the Democrats have been positioning themselves to benefit from it. All the talk of inadequate funding for homeland security - as if pouring money on Rainbow Tom Ridge will solve anything - is a predicate to their strategy. Bush will be blamed for protecting us inadequately. If the damage is sufficiently severe, and the economy tanks, they may even try to impeach him. If you think they can't do that, think again.

Of course, Babbin isn't the only one to suggest the Democrats see a terrorism attack and a crappy economy as their electoral saviours. Some prominent Democrats said it, too.