Prominent GOP pollster: Times Square bomb scare gives Republicans an "opportunity"

[RandySF]

Will we see Michael Brown go back on Fox News?

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/05/prominent_gop_pollster_times_s.html

So it was interesting to see how Ayres characterized the politics of the Times Square bomb scare in an interview with Karen Tumulty and Paul Kane:

Two days after the dramatic arrest of Times Square bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad, Republicans were engaged in a full-bore effort to rewrite the good-news narrative.

Yes, we have been lucky," House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (Ohio) said Thursday, "but luck is not an effective strategy for fighting terrorism."

Whatever the merits of their argument -- and, where terrorism is concerned, it is prudent to keep cockiness at bay -- there is a political imperative at work as well.

"Democrats are always suspect on national security, and anything that makes them look weak on national security creates an opportunity for Republicans," said Whit Ayres, a GOP pollster.