LIEBERMAN & GOP SEIZE ON BUSTS TO RIP 'SOFT' FOES

    Democratic candidates from Connecticut to Ohio were under fire as weak on terror yesterday amid news of the massive air-attack plot that was busted up in London.

    Embattled Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary, used the arrests to attack primary winner Ned Lamont for advocating withdrawal from Iraq.

    Republicans, fighting to keep seats in the midterm elections this November, are using the Lamont primary victory to argue the party is tilting leftward and can't be trusted on security issues.

    Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, widely considered the Democratic front-runner for 2008, and Sen. Charles Schumer have been among the first to say they would back Lamont in the fall.

    The Republican National Committee sent out a fund-raising e-mail from Rudy Giuliani yesterday that didn't refer directly to the terror plot but said, "Now is not the time to turn our backs on the war on terror, to soften our stand on security, or to cripple the economy with ill-advised tax hikes."

    In New Jersey, aides to GOP senate hopeful Tom Kean Jr. promptly fired off a criticism of Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez's voting record on security as "dismal," saying the senator "has no credibility when he talks about keeping Americans safe."

    In Ohio, GOP officials blasted Democratic Rep. Sherrod Brown, who's running for Senate, claiming he'd voted against funding key anti-terror programs. The state's Republican chairman said: "If Sherrod Brown had his way, America would be less safe."

    Republican National Chairman Ken Mehlman said "the main lesson of today is America needs to continue working with our allies and stay on the offense in the global war on terror."

    Several Democrats moved to issue strong statements condemning the attacks and supporting the war on terror, while liberal bloggers speculated the timing of the latest terror alert was suspicious.