Democratic Presidential hopefuls take shots at Homeland Security plan

The Bush Administration’s record on homeland security was a hot topic among Democratic presidential candidates who attended a forum in Des Moines this weekend. Florida Senator Bob Gramm said the Bush Administration has let the Al Qaeda terrorist network that attacked America on September 11th “off the hook” Gramm said the U.S. had Al-Qaeda “on the ropes, close to dismantlement and then as we moved resources out of Afghanistan and Pakistan to fight the war in Iraq, we let them regenerate.” Missouri Congressman Dick Gephardt said the Bush Administration has let America down and left the country vulnerable to an attack here. Gephardt said Bush Administration officials “run around acting like they’re the greatest proponents of it, but when you get to the bottom line, the money’s not there.” Reverend Al Sharpton said Bush has to answer for his failures. Sharpton said he wouldn’t make Bush the head of missing persons in a Sharpton Administration. “He can’t find bin Laden. We don’t know if Hussein is living or dead and we can’t find the weapons of mass destruction,” Sharpton said. North Carolina Senator John Edwards said Democrats won’t beat Bush unless they make it clear how they intend to proceed on security issues. Edwards said Democrats “should not cede this issue to a party and a President whose idea of homeland security is plastic wrap and duct tape.”