Friday's deadly terrorist attacks in Paris dramatically changed the tenor of the Sunshine Summit finale in Orlando Saturday and shifted a large part of the focus of CBS' Democratic presidential debate later that night.
As you would expect. For presidential candidates of both parties, the attacks are a game-changer.
Expect terrorism, national security and foreign affairs to rise, perhaps even replace jobs and the economy as the No. 1 concern of 2016 voters from now until next November. Already there is a sense that it's only a matter of time before jihadists operating in the U.S. again target innocent Americans.
Voters are going to be looking hard to weigh whose ideas and judgment, whose strength and leadership will best confront and defeat the evolving threat of terrorism.
No American I can find is ambivalent. If you watched the man-on-the-street interviews televised from Miami, Boston, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles Saturday, you know these terrorists got our country's attention.
The coordinated attacks in the French capital left at least 129 dead and 352 others wounded, according to French authorities. France declared a state of emergency and ISIS has claimed responsibility for the deadliest attacks on the country since World War II.
The deadly assault set a somber tone for the second Democratic presidential debate at Drake University in Des Moines. It opened with a moment of silence, candidates standing on stage with their heads bowed, to mark the tragedy.
Frontrunner Hillary Clinton set the tone in her opening remarks: "This is about choosing our next commander in chief," she said. "All of the other issues we want to deal with depend on our being secure and strong.”
Clinton, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley all agreed there was a need for better intelligence, a better use of the country's vast military resources and a closer partnership with U.S. allies, especially in the Middle East.
And none of them would use the term "radical Islam." Maybe "radical jihadists," but they all wanted to be careful not to tar "our Muslim American neighbors," as O'Malley called them, with the same terrorist brush.
Clinton was forced several times to admit she was wrong when, as a senator, she voted to invade Iraq.
Asked by a CBS panelist if he still believes global warming is the greatest threat to national security, Sanders replied, "Absolutely. Climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism” because, he said, in the years ahead, the fight over natural resources like water could lead to an even greater international conflict.
Earlier in the day presidential candidates in Orlando at the Republican Party of Florida's Sunshine Summit adjusted their speeches and addressed directly the ISIS threat and President Obama's handling of the Middle East. As you would expect, their remarks were something less than flattering:
Chris Christie: “On a day like this, we’ve all seen the desperate need for strong leadership ... We must never allow this cult of evil to take hold. It is the antithesis of what it means to be a free America.”
John Kasich: “I don’t know if this is a time for political criticism or the blame game, but I must say that we as a nation, the United States of America, have not shown leadership. We just have not shown leadership. We’ve had an unwillingness to lead. One administration official suggested that the United States should lead from behind. If the United States of America were to continue to lead from behind, we will leave the world a much more dangerous place.”
Rick Santorum: "ISIS is a creation of a political decision by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to abandon Iraq. ... We have a president that said yesterday ISIS was contained. He is either uninformed, dishonest or delusional -- and probably all three."
Jim Gilmore: "We are at war. ... I was chief executive of a state in crisis ...That is experience. ... Paris, ladies and gentlemen, is only the beginning."
Carly Fiorina: "I am angry that just yesterday morning, our president, against all evidence, declared ISIS contained and took a victory lap. ... Because we are exceptional, we must lead. ... We must have the strongest economy and the strongest military on the face of the planet."
According to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll -- a survey taken before Friday's Paris attacks -- just 4 percent of Democratic primary voters said foreign policy and the Middle East is the top issue that will decide their vote, and just another 2 percent said terrorism was.
You can bet the farm that will change in the next poll.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
