The new political mantra: It's no longer the economy.
Want evidence that Democrats have shifted gears in the current campaign, zeroing in on foreign policy instead of the domestic jobs issue?
Look no further than the Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce's business breakfast last week.
Speaker No. 1, Wachovia economist Mark Vitner, told attendees that the economy was well beyond recovery, even in a "boom" period, with the most balanced job growth in 20 years. "I seriously doubt we'll see a weak jobs number for many years to come," he said.
Speaker No. 2., U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, then proceeded to agree with some of Vitner's assessment with one caveat: the burgeoning federal deficit, a problem underscored by the role China and India are playing in buying up U.S. debt.
Most of Nelson's speech was dedicated to the continuing terrorist threat and digs at President Bush's administration for keeping vital information from Congress before attacking Iraq.
Nelson, a Democrat who sits on the U.S. Foreign Relations Committee, said that before voting for military action, his panel was not only assured that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction but also that there was a plot to use unmanned aerial vehicles to drop chemical and biological weapons on eastern U.S. cities.
Never, Nelson said, was his panel told there was a dispute in the intelligence community over that assessment. Never was it told that some Air Force officials thought the unmanned vehicles would be used only for reconnaissance.
Now, Nelson is calling on Bush to convene a special meeting involving all Arab countries to discuss Iraq's future. He wants to eventually bring in NATO to stabilize Iraq.
Afterward, Nelson was asked whether, politically speaking, Bush is now more vulnerable on issues of foreign policy than the economy. "In the short term, yes," he said.
