Dems pick 6th CD hopeful and Iraq war vet Tammy Duckworth to deliver Saturday national radio address. Hastert, Pelosi sparring over national security.

By Lynn Sweet

Republicans are trying to portray Democrats as weak on national security. On Saturday, 6th CD Dem House nominee Tammy Duckworth–a wounded Iraq war vet–delivers the Dems national reply to President Bush’s regular Sunday radio address. She records it on Friday in Chicago, taking on a higher profile.

She’ll be talking about national security.

After Wednesday’s vote to create military tribunals, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert said Democrats who opposed the bill were coddling terrorists. Hastert said in a statement “In fact, Democrat Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and 159 of her Democrat colleagues, voted today in favor of more rights for terrorists.”

Pelosi pushed back in her response.“ I think the speaker is a desperate man. For him to say that, would you think that anyone in our country wants to coddle terrorists?

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