Do you want Howard Dean in charge of national security? [shudder]

Here’s Kate O’Beirne on the Capital Gang this past weekend:

“And I submit he's [Howard Dean] worse than an anti-war candidate at the time of war, announcing this week that he might have gone to war with Iraq if the U.N. gave us permission, which is an incredible outrage. He's worse than an anti-war candidate. John Kerry's pointing out that he's not even a credible anti-war candidate because he's been all over the map! He was saying that -- well over a year ago that of course Saddam Hussein's a threat. Now he says we're no safer. He's making these sort of almost deranged comments on national security. Republicans are now saying to each other, Maybe we ought to lay off Howard Dean for fear the Democrats come to their senses before -- before it's too late. That's how, out there, they're increasingly seeing Howard Dean.”

Since the Democrats view everything the Bush administration does through a political prism, I’m waiting to see how they spin the Homeland Security shift to orange status. My guess is they’ll portray it as a ploy to re-focus attention on security matters where Republicans have more credibility (with good reason).