Bill Press is a syndicated columnist, the co-host of CNN's Crossfire, which airs Monday-Friday at 7:30 p.m., and author of the newly-published book Spin This!

Bill Press: Making political hay out of 9/11

By Bill Press
Tribune Media Services

WASHINGTON (Tribune Media Services) -- For brave leadership after the September 11 terrorist attacks, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was named Time's Man of the Year. It's a great honor. He deserved it. But along the way, he made one near-fatal mistake.

Giuliani's undoing came when, desperate to hang onto power, he tried to take advantage of his popularity to extend his term of office beyond January 1. Even though he was prohibited by law from serving longer, he suggested that the people, or the Legislature, might make an exception and give him another three to six months in office.

Suddenly, Giuliani's popularity plunged. It looked like he was trying to take advantage of the situation. Suddenly, it seemed he was no longer acting on behalf of New Yorkers or Americans. He was in it only for himself. Worst of all, he appeared to be turning terrorism into a partisan political issue.

To his credit, Giuliani immediately recognized his mistake and abandoned any consideration of staying in office. He thereby provided a powerful lesson for any politician: Keep politics out of 9/11. Too bad President Bush didn't learn it. Instead, he sent his top lieutenant out to do just the opposite.

Speaking in Austin, Texas, last weekend, White House political adviser Karl Rove urged members of the Republican National Committee to turn the war in Afghanistan into partisan politics.

He made it clear that Bush's conduct of the war would be the centerpiece of the administration's strategy to hold onto the House and regain control of the Senate in 2002.

"We can go to the country on this issue," he told GOP activists, "because they trust the Republican Party to do a better job of protecting and strengthening America's military might and, thereby, protecting America."

President Bush is making a big mistake. One of the great blessings flowing out of our national tragedy is the great unity among Americans. After 9/11, all Americans came together -- average, working Americans, as well as politicians of both parties -- united behind the president in our determination to hunt down those responsible and wipe out all terrorist cells. It's been a wonderful, refreshing four months of relief from ugly politics as usual.

Not only that, the war against terrorism is far from over. It's a noble effort that will continue for years, and one in which all Americans should remain united. To shatter that unity now, by trying to cash it in for a couple of Republican House seats, both cheapens the cause and insults the men and women on the front lines.

As House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt noted, American soldiers are risking their lives for a cause a lot more important than which party controls the Congress: "Those young people in Afghanistan are not fighting for the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. They are fighting for the greatest country that has ever existed on earth. That is the United States of America."

There's another problem with Bush's sudden attempt to politicize the war. It could also backfire. Big time. Winning a war doesn't always translate into winning an election. George W. should have learned that from his father, who was repaid for his success in the Persian Gulf War by getting kicked out of the White House. Or he should have learned from his own experience: His party lost important gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia last fall, even while he was leading a winning military campaign in Afghanistan.

It's something politicians don't understand: Voters are smarter than they are. Voters, for example, know the difference between running a war and running a country. Even though they may like the job he's doing in Afghanistan, they could still vote against his party if they don't like the job he's doing back home.

No matter how hard Rove and Bush try, they'll never succeed in making this year's congressional races a referendum on the war, because the American people won't buy it. They know, as far as the war on terrorism goes, it doesn't make any difference which candidate for the House or Senate they vote for, because - on that issue - both Democrats and Republicans agree.

It's not Bush's leadership of the war that will make the difference in 2002. It's his lack of leadership on the economy, the environment, the patients' bill of rights, fixing Medicare and Social Security - and his continued efforts to reward the wealthy with more tax cuts. On those issues, the ones Americans care most about, Bush is in political trouble.