Other famous commissions such as the Roberts Commission investigating Pearl Harbor in the early 1940s and the Warren Commission probing the assassination of John F. Kennedy two decades later never dominated political campaigns. Indeed, most commissions -- frequently established for work too controversial for elected officials to handle -- have fleeting fame and influence, if any.
The Sept. 11 commission is different, historians say, because of an unusual marriage of timing and circumstance. Few commissions have received such high marks from both parties for their investigations, hearings and recommendations. Kean and Vice Chairman Lee H. Hamilton, a former Democratic representative from Indiana, set the tone by holding both parties accountable for past failures and current actions.
More important, observers say, the commission was dealing with an issue that is dominating election-year discussions and decided to inject itself into the campaign by publicly lobbying for its ideas. When Bush elevated the alert level in New York, Washington and Newark on Aug. 1, commissioners swung into action, saying the potential terrorist attacks should serve as a wake-up call to candidates to promptly embrace their recommendations.
Not everyone is pleased with the rally-around-the-commission spirit. Allan J. Lichtman, a political historian and presidential scholar at American University, said calls for a far-reaching, immediate overhaul of the nation's massive intelligence apparatus is "most unwise."
"It's not as if adopting this tomorrow will make us safer," Lichtman said. "In the short run, it may make us less safe because of the chaos." Lichtman said it was a mistake for Kerry to bless the commission's work without more thought given to future consequences. "It shows a lack of consideration of the facts," he said.
Several Republicans and some Democrats on Capitol Hill agree that such a large government reorganization would require greater study and should be put off until after the election.
Kean disagrees. "I worry more about delay, about being put off another a year and [to] a new Congress," he said.
Kerry, more than Bush, shares Kean's impatience. The Massachusetts senator is planning to emphasize the issue in the weeks ahead, aides say, by working with the commissioners to press for quick implementation.
Kerry believes Bush is most vulnerable politically for refusing so far to provide such an intelligence director with the budgetary and appointment powers the commission called for and for "foot-dragging" on the other 40 recommendations, a top aide said. But Kerry also plans to use the report as a shield from attacks over his positions on issues such as expanding the battle in Afghanistan and securing nuclear weapons, the aide said.
"In the months ahead, we will use the 9/11 commission's recommendations to validate [Kerry's] approach to the war on terror . . . and prove that our approach is more effective," said James P. Rubin, a top national security adviser to Kerry.
Bush's homeland security adviser, Frances Fragos Townsend, said yesterday that the president is working on adopting most of the commission's recommendations. "The fact that we've already begun implementing 36 of the 41 [recommendations] has enabled us to get in front of it," she said on "Fox News Sunday." "It's good work. We need to improve on it. But that's why it was important for us to take the time to read it, to understand it and to move forward with it."
Mehlman, Bush's campaign manager, said the president will try to push the debate beyond the commission. "One of the most important issues of this election . . . is how do we reform government to deal with this anti-terrorism threat," he said. In the end, Mehlman said Bush will prove his ideas are superior to Kerry's -- and those of the commission.
