Dem Congress Haunted by Dukakis, Mondale and Carter

Excerpt from an article by Peter Brown in RealClearPolitics:

You can see the ghosts of Michael Dukakis, Walter Mondale and Jimmy Carter hanging over the Democratic Congress. Their past presidential standard bearers' image of weakness on national security is giving today's Democratic lawmakers pause.

Even as Democratic leaders try to cut off funds for U.S. troops in Iraq, they are pulling their punches to avoid evoking those memories, which have been political poison for the party.

There is strong support in the Democratic caucus for quickly phasing U.S. troops out of Iraq and redirecting U.S. foreign and military policy around the globe. Yet, the potential political ramifications have their leaders gingerly taking on the issue, even though most Americans say they want the troops out.

Even though current polls reflect public confidence in Democrats' ability to deal with America's enemies, history has not been kind to them.

* Democrats in the late 1960s and 1970s forced the phase-out of U.S. troops in the unpopular Vietnam War. But in the aftermath, voters viewed the party as reflexively wary of using force in U.S. interests;

* Carter presided over the Iranian hostage embarrassment that frustrated Americans for a year;

* Mondale and Dukakis opposed Ronald Reagan's "peace through strength" policy that most analysts credit for victory in the Cold War

That is why until public support for the Iraq war soured, for decades polls had generally shown American voters wary of trusting the Democratic Party and its candidates with national security. Bill Clinton was elected at a time after the Cold War and before 9/11, when domestic issues were paramount.