The political atmosphere is charged. Democrats can't afford to be seen as soft on defense or terrorism. They're going to have to fight the social cuts without bargaining on defense.

Democrats need to be careful about how they proceed. If they come across as weak on national defense, an issue where the president is strong ... they will pay a price.

For years, Democrats have played defense. I want to be Brett Favre and throwing long balls and win.

President Bush decided that we could no longer be just on defense against global terrorism, but we must also be on offense,

Intelligence is our first line of defense against terrorism, and we must improve the collection capabilities and analysis of intelligence to protect the security of the United States and its allies.

The Republicans succeeded in playing the terrorism card last time. We have to convince women that we Democrats are tough on terrorism.