AP has an analysis looking at how the GOP has really stumbled on the port security issue -- and they're mostly worried because of the political implications. Take it from the mouth of a top GOP operative:
''This ports issue has ricocheted around the country and made it to people's dinner tables like nothing I've ever seen,'' said Scott Reed, a GOP consultant. ''It's now an out-of-control political problem.''While the GOPers in Congress scurry from Bush like rats on a sinking ship with a 34% approval rating, Democrats can't let them escape. They had a role in the failure of port security, too:
''When it comes to protecting the ports, Republicans really do have a pre-9/11 mind-set,'' said Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.Bush and the Hill Republicans have both failed on national security. They can't escape from each other.
Among the votes:
--In 2003, House Republicans, on a procedural vote, agreed to kill a Democratic amendment that would have added $250 million for port security grants to a war spending package.
--Two years later, nearly all House Republicans voted against an alternative Homeland Security authorization bill offered by Democrats that called for an additional $400 million for port security.
--Senate Republicans stood together in 2003 to set aside a Democratic amendment that would have provided $120 million more for port cargo screening equipment.
--One year later, all but six Senate Republicans voted to reject a Democratic attempt to add $150 million for port security in a Homeland Security appropriations bill.
