A New Issue in the Election Mix.

Ronald Brownstein, Los Angeles Times:

When President Bush on Wednesday urged Congress to quickly provide him new legal authority to bring suspected terrorists to trial, he may have answered a political riddle: What issue would Republicans use to sharpen their contrasts with Democrats over national security in the approaching midterm election?

Bush's challenge to lawmakers could reshape the legislative landscape on the question of trying terrorists and inject a volatile dispute into the 2006 election, analysts say.

The Supreme Court in June forced Bush to seek a new legislative framework for trying suspected terrorists when it threw out as unconstitutional the military commission system he had established.

Until now, the dispute over establishing a system to replace the military commissions has not generated much attention outside of legal circles.

But several analysts said Bush emphatically changed that dynamic Wednesday by announcing that he had moved 14 high-profile detainees to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba — including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks — and declaring that he intended to bring them to trial as quickly as Congress approved new rules.

By linking the trial of key figures suspected in the Sept. 11 attacks to agreement on a new legal structure, Bush's announcement is likely to increase the pressure on Congress.

Bush also may be establishing a line of contrast with Democrats. Many Democrats believe that by heightening the focus on the detainee trial issue two months before the midterm congressional election, the president may be seeking to replicate a successful GOP strategy from the 2002 campaign.