Washington ? Only months ago, Democrats were targeting the controversial Patriot Act as an ideal issue to use in their campaign against President Bush, assailing the law as an intrusion on civil rights. But in a turnabout, the act has suddenly emerged as a cornerstone of Bush’s reelection campaign, while Democratic rival Sen. John Kerry and others have toned down their criticism.

The Patriot Act is proving to be more popular in opinion polls than once expected, given its diverse range of critics. Also, both Democratic and Republican strategists now believe that public debate about the Patriot Act and other aspects of the nation’s response to terrorism only enhance the national security credentials of President Bush, while threatening to paint Kerry as soft on terrorism.

The result is that the Democrats have lost what once seemed like a useful tool for rallying opposition to the president.

“There’s a dangerous trap here for Democrats,” said Jim Mulhall, a Democratic strategist working with independent groups targeting Bush. “It’s a terribly unfair characterization, but … if Democrats are not careful, they will sound more like they’re worried about technical concerns than they are about locking up terrorists.”

Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has recently been couching his positions on the law as “fixes,” whereas in December the Massachusetts senator called for “replacing the Patriot Act with a new law that protects our people and our liberties at the same time.” Kerry has even argued that his ideas would make the law, bashed repeatedly last year by nearly all the Democratic presidential contenders, tougher than it is currently.

Many communities have de-nounced the Patriot Act as an intrusion on privacy rights and civil liberties. The Lawrence City Commission voted 4-1 Tuesday in expressing opposition to the Patriot Act — the first community to do so in Kansas.

But a series of new polls published last week have led strategists to conclude that the deftly named Patriot Act is a winner for Bush.

While the president’s numbers have sagged on issues such as the economy and the war in Iraq, a Washington Post/ABC News survey found that 63 percent approved of the president’s handling of the war on terrorism. In a Gallup Poll conducted for CNN and USA Today, more than twice as many respondents said they thought Bush would do a “good job” on terrorism as thought Kerry would.

And while polls have shown that certain aspects of the Patriot Act are unpopular when they are explained to voters, responses to broader questions suggest general support for the law.