Analysts conclude Sept. 11 hearings unlikely to sway voters

Looks like Zogby agrees with me. Neither side is interested in hearing the facts, nor fixing any problems. They simply want to blame the other side.

Meanwhile nothing is being done to make America safer from domestic attacks.

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WASHINGTON -- The Sept. 11 commission hearings are being broadcast in political stereo.

Those listening on the political right hear half the argument -- that former President Clinton is to blame for not stopping the terrorist attacks of 2001. Those listening on the left hear the other half -- that President Bush is to blame.

The result so far is that neither side accepts a view blaming or excusing both presidents. "Each side is listening to the side it wants to hear," said John Zogby, an independent pollster based in New York. "I don't see it changing minds or swaying people one way or the other."

As a matter of policy, the bipartisan commission is striving to identify and prevent any repeat of flaws in counterterrorism work that allowed al-Qaida operatives to attack the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

As a matter of politics, however, the public hearings that opened Tuesday, combined with this week's publication of a new book criticizing Bush by former White House counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke, have the potential to reshape the presidential campaign if they raise doubts about Bush's greatest strength -- public appreciation of his stewardship over the war on terrorism.