Politics is like sport. You play to win, and to win you must have a strategy to fit the times and the opponent. Fifty years ago in the National Football League, most teams used the running game to set up the less frequently used passing game. Bart Starr, quarterback of the great Green Bay Packer teams of the late 60's, threw the ball only about 15-20 times per game. How times have changed. Today, the passing game sets up the running game, and it is not uncommon for teams to throw the ball 45-50 times per game. Teams have learned that defenses are simply too big and too fast to be defeated with "three yards and a cloud of dust." The reality changed the strategy.

 Politics in America, like football, has changed with the times as well, and in only a few short years. In the 1990's, the ruling democrats told us "it's the economy, stupid. "Welfare reform, healthcare reform and domestic policy in general set the agenda. Foreign policy was a mere distraction that could not command Bill Clinton's attention for very long. International issues were a side-show for a president who governed America, well, like a governor. When Osama Bin Laden was in the US military's cross-hairs, our domestic president could not even be located by his National Security advisor. No need to look beyond our borders. Just put your head down, focus on the economy and win elections.

 September 11th changed all that, much to the political dismay of democrats. Today, foreign policy, national security and the war on terror appear first on the president's agenda, and more importantly on the American people's collective mind. There is no end in sight to this change in focus, despite the victory in Iraq. Without triumphs in these areas, there will be no American way of life, no freedom and no thriving US economy. And, oh by the way, we are going to export this freedom to places like Iraq. The president has made it clear. "We love our freedom and we are not changing."

 But judging by their talk lately, leading democrats do not understand this seismic shift, their own reversal of fortune. Yet even if they did understand this new emphasis on foreign policy, they may be powerless to change it. But boy are they trying. Last week Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa welcomed candidate John Edwards to Iowa. In his introduction of Edwards, Harkin gave all of one sentence to the war and then declared emphatically that it would be "in the past" by November 2004. For many democrats, the war in Iraq is simply a single event, instead of one in a string of events that will last for a long time. Democratic congressmen are nightly holding up charts in the House of Representatives showing how the deficit has grown, (not in percentages, which would be less convincing, but in raw numbers) but few seem to care. Senator John Kerry blunders his way along the campaign trail by referring to the Bush administration as a "regime." The Democratic Party motto should be "anything for domestic politics" including equating George Bush with Saddam Hussein.

 In short, democrats are trying to change the subject back to the running game of the 1990's, domestic politics. But in a changed world, they are not succeeding. Their hand-wringing and foot-stamping sounds like a teenager who "wants to talk about what's important to me." Howard Dean wants to ":educate the American people" about social issues. Nancy Pelosi wants to complain about the budget impact of pulling down statues in Iraq. What's next, a cost-benefit analysis of raising the flag over Iwo Jima?

 Am I saying that the economy and domestic issues are not important today? Not at all. Pocketbook issues will always resonate with the American people. The president has made it clear he will not ignore them. But the message sent to Washington in the wake of 9/11 and November 2002 was essentially the same: Unless you can convince us that you will lead on national security, terrorism and foreign policy, and take action, we will not allow you to lead this country. And it really does not matter what else you say and do. If it did, President Bush's poll numbers would be suffering right now. What the American people understand (and it is why they overwhelmingly supported the war in Iraq) is this: unless we win the war on terror and deal with people like Saddam Hussein, we will have no freedom and no future. It will all be gone with a sigh. We know our president has taken political risks to lead our country in a vigorous defense of freedom, and so far, we approve of the direction he has taken us.

 Democrats, are you paying attention? A new age calls for new priorities and a new strategy. If you refuse to embrace the new reality, you will go down in flames again. Endlessly trying to change the subject back again to "the economy, stupid" will not succeed in a post 9/11 world. What we need now is a leading democrat to tell his party the truth about their deeply flawed strategy. The question is: does anyone have the political courage to do it before November 2004?

  John Pendleton