I believe the Democratic Leadership has to go on the offensive immediately

[truthisfreedom]

today denouncing North Korea's nuke test and then warning everyone that allowing the bush admin to continue to have this kind of power will only lead to more of the same. bush took his eye off the ball with NK and we are suffering now for it... he was so busy with his illegal invasion that he didn't bother focusing on the real threat... the country that was actually developing a nuke.

[rodeodance]

1. no doubt Dems will issue statements but will get buried in Big

articles.

[rodeodance]

2. shall we start calling the Dem offices?--I will-and leave a message.

[ps1074]

3. I agree

Hit them hard. It's another one of Bush's many failures.

[BelgianMadCow]

4. Well done Dems indeed

that was my first thought as well whan I saw the headlines - my my that's FAST!

Important to get the word in immediately, and counter the "keeping you safe" spin.

[Skittles]

5. remind voters we are wasting lives and resources in Iraq

while ignoring real threats

[cleveramerican]

6. Lets get going

I'll call Kennedy and Kerry's offices tomorrow

[truthisfreedom]

7. i hate to kick my own thread, but this was announced today:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2553116

Republicans almost always benefit from any rise in the “fear factor” among voters in the US. However, Monday’s move by Pyongyang could cut both ways. “Democrats can point to the zero progress that George Bush has made on the ‘Axis of Evil’ states since he identified them almost five years ago,” said Bob Einhorn, who was a senior official in the Clinton administration dealing with North Korea in the late 1990s. “Iraq is a fiasco, Iran is close to getting nuclear weapons, and North Korea already has them.”

i would add this:

"Do we have to wait to find out if bush's missile shield is going to fail as well? or is it time for a new direction?"

[bvar22]

8. The Democrats also need to confront the LIE....

...that the Clinton administration's Treaty and Negotiation with N Korea was not working.
While NKorea DID violate parts of the treaty, the spent fuel rods (from which fissable material can be manufactured) WERE consistently MONITORED and ACCOUNTED FOR.
It was ONLY after Bush's "Axis of Evil" condemnation of NKorea that the cameras and monitors were turned off, and NKorea started using thes Fuel Rods in the enrichment process.

The BUSH Foreign Policy was a COMPLETE FAILURE, not Clinton's.

[eridani]

9. Politically smart. However--

--what does it really matter that NK has nukes? What would they use them for? If they ever launched even one at any possible target, the entire country would be incinerated and uninhabitable for a long time. IMO, what they are really using their nuclear program for is to make up for the total fucked-upness of the rest of their society, i.e "Send us fuel oil and food NOW or we'll keep up the bomb program."

[AtomicKitten]

10. the GOP has already started blaming Clinton, of course

so I would tend to agree with the OP that we need to cut them off at the pass with yet another attempt to paint the Dems weak on terror when they are, in fact, wrong and stupid on terror.