Twitching the Body Politic

By Rick Horowitz

So little that's certain in this uncertain world, but you can take this one to the bank: We haven't seen the last of John Ashcroft. Between now and Nov. 2, the attorney general will find time in his busy schedule to step before the TV cameras and try to scare you half to death.

Only half to death, of course. He still needs you alive enough to tremble your way to the voting booth and cast a ballot for his boss.

It was like watching the sun come up: magnificent in its own way, but hardly a surprise. The Sunday talk shows had been filled with bad news for George Bush -- constant carnage in Iraq, constant replays of the president at his most petulant in the first debate, new polls showing a surge in support for John Kerry. That was Sunday. And on Monday, right on schedule, John Ashcroft came riding to the rescue. Again.

He was pleased to announce an indictment in the war on terror. A British man was being charged with conspiring with the "shoe bomber," Richard Reid, to try to bring down commercial aircraft. A multi-count indictment had just been unsealed in Massachusetts against one Saajid Mohammed Badat. And in Washington, Mr. Ashcroft couldn't wait to tell the world about it -- or at least that part of the world that has electoral votes.

Reporters on the scene were just the slightest bit skeptical. I could see why they might be skeptical. After all, there was nothing that required an announcement from the attorney general himself; some lower-level aide could certainly have handled it. For that matter, the whole thing could have been dealt with in a press release; there was nothing that required cameras and microphones, lights and lecterns.

And then there was the timing -- not even a month before Election Day, and right on the heels of a presidential stumble and a Kerry boomlet. Since the indictment had actually been secretly handed down back on Sept. 1, since Badat was already in a British jail awaiting trial on similar charges, since Mr. Ashcroft acknowledged that any U.S. trial would likely have to await the end of the British trial, you might wonder why it was so important to unseal and announce this additional indictment right this minute.

Except that you're probably not wondering at all. You're probably thinking you know why it was so important.

Can you say "damage control"? Can you say "politics"?

Mr. Ashcroft dismissed the idea, of course, just as Tom Ridge always does when he rides to the president's rescue.

"We don't do politics in the Department of Homeland Security," Mr. Ridge famously announced not long ago. And of course I believe him, just as I believe Mr. Ashcroft when he insisted on Monday that "the safety and security of the American people" are "the sole consideration of the Justice Department."

Mr. Ridge and Mr. Ashcroft don't do politics. What they do is coincidence, and plenty of it.

I'm sure it was just coincidence that, as soon as John Kerry started getting good reviews for choosing John Edwards as his young and vigorous (if somewhat inexperienced) running mate, the administration suddenly started talking about terrorist threats so awful we might have to postpone our elections.

I'm sure it was just coincidence that, only hours before Mr. Kerry's acceptance speech at his convention, the administration suddenly announced the capture of a key al-Qaeda operative on the other side of the world. Except that the man had been captured days earlier; the announcement just happened to happen during the run-up to the Kerry speech. A coincidence.

Just as I'm sure it was coincidence that, as soon as the Democratic convention was over, and just in time to flatten any post-convention bounce, the administration suddenly announced heightened terror alerts for certain buildings in and around New York and Washington. The fact that the intelligence behind these alerts was three or four years old? The administration somehow forgot to mention that in the initial announcement. An oversight, of course, although Mr. Ridge did remember to claim that "the kind of information available to us today is the result of the president's leadership in the war against terror."

All coincidences, I'm sure. Except that I can't help noticing: Whenever the Bush campaign needs an extra point or two in the polls, here come Mr. Ridge and Mr. Ashcroft to poke at our nervous system.

The other thing I can't help noticing? It works every time. They poke, and we twitch, just the way the president's strategists want us to twitch, and the numbers move toward Mr. Bush.

So the one thing I'm sure about between now and Nov. 2? The one thing you can be sure about?

They'll keep poking.

Posted 10/7/04. Something else you can count on: award-winning commentary from syndicated columnist Rick Horowitz. Spread the word!

Rick Horowitz is a syndicated columnist, TV commentator, writing coach and public speaker.

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