Joe Gandelman writes that Senator Obama’s response to “appeasement” charges shows us it ain’t 2004 any more.

Obama turned the proverbial lemon (being attacked by Bush and being put on the defensive and having to answer) into lemonade (going after Bush by rattling off specific criticisms, using humor and sarcasm and tethering McCain tightly to Bush one after McCain made a major speech in which the Arizona Senator tried to inch himself away from the most unpopular President in modern polling history).

The biggest change, however, is that Obama seems unafraid to engage in foreign policy debates with Republicans. Chris Cillizza:

In elections past, Democrats have sought to avoid an extended fight with Republicans over foreign policy, preferring to instead fight on the more familiar — and friendly — ground of domestic issues like health care and the economy.

The 2004 election may well have signaled a sea change in that strategy, as Bush effectively turned the election into a referendum on the threat of terrorism and the importance of national security as Democrats were unable to mount an effective response. …

… It marks a remarkable change in tactics that speaks to just how much the political landscape has shifted since 2004. McCain and Republicans are certain to work to frame the national security/foreign policy debate in their favor, but Obama’s initial response is a sign that they may have to adjust their tactics in the runup to the November election.

If you watch much MSNBC, you are sure to catch Pat Buchanan saying the GOP will turn Obama into McGovern. (Forget 2004; Pat thinks it’s still 1972.) The “Democrats are soft on national security” is a bluff the Right has pulled since the post World War II era. About the only presidential candidate who successfully called them on it was John Kennedy, who countered the Right’s bogus charge with an equally bogus “missile gap” claim.

I’m calling it a “bluff” because, if you think about it, the GOP’s actual record on national security issues since the post World War II era really isn’t any more glorious than the Dems’. Dem and GOP presidents alike have had some successes and some blunders. The Republican advantage on national security issues is based more on chest-thumping and tree-peeing than on their record.

And the fact is that the Bush Administration finally, and stupidly, has revealed their hand. By now it is blatantly obvious to all but 27 percent — Bush bitter enders — that the Bushies have no bleeping clue what they are doing regarding foreign policy. And although plenty of Republican candidates are moving away from Bush now, GOP politicians stood with Bush so solidly for so long that The Smirk is the face of Republican national security policy. Bush is to the GOP what the Doughboy is to Pillsbury.

So, Republican smear machine — bring it on.

See also E.J. Dionne, “Brand on the Run.”