Dean was right

With simultaneous announcements of a new terrorist threat and a new intelligence czar to oversee all of the nation's intelligence agencies, it seems obvious that this is a coordinated campaign by the Republicans to regain the terrorism issue for Bush.

Why else would Bush have Ridge go in front of the television cameras yesterday to announce that a handful of buildings in two cities were thought to be at risk? Wouldn't it have been better (and look less political) to let the city mayors take the lead in announcing stepped up security? Without specifics on when and how, what other purpose would Tom Ridge have in going in front of the country to announce the increased security at a handful of buildings other than to scare the country and set the stage for Bush's Rose Garden appearance today.

However, Kerry seems to be effectively painting Bush as doing too little too late with his line from today's rally in Michigan:

"September 11, 2001 happened, September 11, 2002 came and went, September 11,2003 came and went and now it's almost September 11, 2004 and only now is the President acting..."

While Dean has taken some flack for his statement yesterday on CNN saying the administration might be stoking fear over a terrorist attack for political reasons, today's twin announcements only confirm his suspicion.