During most of the Cold War it was not possible for a Democrat to be elected president. Democrats were not seen as credible on national security and in a time of national security crisis, that was disqualifying.
From 1969, when Lyndon Johnson left office, until 1992 when Bill Clinton took office, a Democrat occupied the White House for only 4 years, and that was due to the Watergate scandal.
This information was not lost on Democratic strategists, which perhaps explains why they attempted to engineer Halliburton, Valerie Plame, the al Qaaqa explosives and so many other issues into bona fide scandals.
That effort did not succeed, at least not in the opinion of a majority of voters.
Now, in a new era of national security crisis, Democrats face a choice: Pray for a new Republican scandal (or try again to engineer one), or become credible on national security; follow the lead of Sen. Joe Lieberman and Rep. Jim Marshall rather than Howard Dean, Michael Moore and George Soros.
I sincerely hope Democrats pursue the second alternative.