Republicans have seized on the issue to attack President Obama's management of the economy.
Democrats are using the Medicare issue to attack Republicans, just as Republicans used it to beat Democrats two years ago.
Republicans have seized on the issue to attack Mr. Obama in an area where he has seemed vulnerable.
However, the candidates seem to be willing to discuss the escalating tensions between Israel and Iran only insofar as they can use the issue to attack the President.
"I wanted to start an animal-rights group, and foie gras seemed like a logical issue to attack," he told me later.
Opposition politicians, recently ousted from state office, quickly seized on the issue to attack the new Congress Party government, suggesting that officials had allowed children to be overdosed.
That doesn't mean that he and the other candidates will be able to resist using the issue to attack each other.
And a radio advertisement paid for by an independent group used the flag issue to attack Mr. McCain, of Arizona, and praise Mr. Huckabee.
By January, the Sanders campaign was using the climate issue to attack Clinton, going after her for the vague and incomplete nature of her climate plan.
The largest opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, has seized on the refueling issue to attack the Liberal Democrats, whom they accuse of slavishly following the United States.
