The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday; September 11, 2008 - 5A CHECK OUT THE DAILY'S NEWEST BLOG, THE TABLE, FOR RECIPES AND TIPS FOR EATING HEALTHY ON A BUDGET. THETABLE.BLOGS.MICHIGANDAILY.COM/ PHOTO BY BILL O'LEARY/ The Washington Pos The Pentagon Sept. 11, 2001 memorial, seen here at night, officially opens today. Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain plan to make a joint appearance at Ground Zero today to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. *Terrorism fades as campaign trail issue Both presidential candidates will make appearances at Sept. 11, 2001 memorials By MICHAEL ABRAMOWITZ The Washington Post WASHINGTON - The joint appearance at Ground Zero today by Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama will not only commemorate the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks but also will mark a rare moment in the campaign when both candidates focus on terror- ism, an issue that has lost salience for American voters as the deadly attacks recede in the public memory. Once the key concern that propelled Republicans to big electoral victories in 2002 and 2004, terrorism has often seemed the forgotten issue of 2008. Both candidates touched on the subject only briefly in their convention speeches and are instead emphasizing the economy, change for Washington and other issues on the stump. The shift reflects a nod to the changing attention of the electorate. At this time in 2002 and 2004, about a quarter of all Americans polled by Gallup called ter- rorism or national security the country's top problem. That dropped to 16 percent in 2006, and now 4 percent of those polled deem those issues the most important challenge facing the Unitred States. "The whole issue has not gotten anywhere near the attention most people would have predicted four years ago," said Paul Pillar, a leading authority on terrorism and a retired CIA analyst. "It is kind of striking that this set of issues that became such a huge national pre- occupation in the years after 9/1 has faded so much." Pillar and other experts sayconcern over terrorism has traditionally waxed following dramatic incidents such as the Sept. 11 attacks or the wave of attacks by Hezbollah in the 1980s, only to wane as public atten- tion drifts. In the current political climate, analysts said, the absence of a subsequent al-Qaida attack on U.S soil has left the electorate with a mistaken view that the terrorist threat has diminished. UAW chides McCain for 'flip-flop' on [ Prius buy LANSING, Mich. (AP) - The head- of the United Auto Workers union said Wednesday that Repub- lican presidential nominee John McCain lost credibility by first say- ing he bought his daughter a Toyota Prius, then saying sie purchased it. Ron Gettelfinger told reporters in a conference call that motorists have a right to choose any car they want. "But we think that a person who has declared himself ... the nomi- nee of the Republican Party should be straight with the American peo- ple," he said. "It's very insulting to Still, both Obama and McCain have tried to use the terrorism issue to emphasize larger themes about their candidacies and to question the judgment of their adversary. The McCain camp has suggested that Obama would adopt a law enforcement model it says was favored by the Clinton administration in the 1990s; Obama's advisers say McCain is too fixated on the use of military power. The war in Iraq remains a touchstone: McCain regards the conflict as central to a-war with Islamic terrorists, whereas Obama has described Iraq as a dis- traction from what should have been the main focus on Afghanistan. "Obama persists in the fiction that Iraq was never a central front in the war on terror," said Randy Scheun- emann, McCain's top foreign policy adviser. "Had we left Iraq in the time and manner Senator Obama advo- cated, al-Qaida would have achieved a victory that dwarfed what they believe they achieved in Somalia - it would have been devastating for our interests." Scheunemann was referring to the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Somalia during the Clinton administra- tion, a move that al-Qaida has used for propaganda. Obama advisers emphasize his call in the summer of 2007 for more troops and resources in Afghanistan, wherethe U.S.and its allieshave beenbattlingaresurgent Taliban militia in recent months. "He called for sending two brigades of U.S. forces to Afghanistan 13 months before the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the same thing," said Richard Clarke, the onetime Bush and Clinton adviser who has been chairing an advisory panel on counterterrorism for the Obama campaign. Despite the rhetorical differences, the candidates shared important similarities.Both McCain and Obama have called for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility for suspected terrorists and more humane interrogation procedures for suspects. They both voted in the Senate for the wireless surveil- lance program promotedby the Bush administration. In their speeches on the subject, both candidates have emphasized the need to use all instruments of national power - intelligence, diplomacy, economic assistance - and not just military power in defeating militant jihadism. Wtry to skirt somethng as simple as whether or not you bought a par- ticular vehicle." Added Jim Graham, president of UAW Local 1112 in Youngstown, Ohio: "If he is going to lie about an issue as small as a Prius, what's he going to do on the big issues?" The UAW has endorsed Demo- cratic candidate Barack Obama. In response, the McCain cam- paign said McCain wants America to "take the lead in the way we power transportation," saving U.S. jobs. "He is trying to promote change and to do this by pushing American companies to develop an affordable battery operated car," she said. Lenti didn't say whether McCain or his daughter had purchased the Prius, but noted: "The UAW should lay off Meghan McCain." According to an October 2007 New York Times article, McCain told a student last fall in South Carolina who asked what the can- didate was doing personally to reduce greenhouse gases that he had bought the hybrid Prius for his daughter, Meghan. But when questioned Sunday by a reporter at TV station WXYZ in Southfield, Mich., McCain said, "She bought it, I believe, herself." 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