Washington — Liz Cheney, founder and board member of Keep America Safe, addressed CPAC this afternoon. She tells National Review Online that national security is not only an important issue for political candidates to focus on in 2010, but a winning issue, too. “It’s just common sense,” Cheney says. “If you ask any American, most Americans, Republican or Democrat, believe that terrorists, if tried, should be tried in military tribunals and not brought onto the homeland by our president.”

“The White House likes to divert attention from these issues and fundamental facts of national security,” Cheney says. “The American people are worried that the country will come under threat if the president continues on the path he is on. President Obama may like to try and float above these issues, by not getting involved or focused, or letting Attorney General Eric Holder make decisions, but it’s hard for me to see how there is a bigger national-security issue than figuring out how to deal with the mastermind of the largest attack on our homeland in history.” Obama, she adds, “is baffling” in how he makes national-security decisions. “There is growing concern among the American people about this administration’s level of competence.”