By AVI ZENILMAN

On May 9, five men currently incarcerated at the Guantanamo Bay detention center were charged in connection with the 9/11 terror attacks. Under the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which authorizes that detainee trials begin within 120 days, they could end up in a courtroom in September – almost to the day of the seventh anniversary of the attacks and right as voters start to tune in for the presidential election homestretch.

It's the kind of high-profile event that in the past might have boded very badly for a Democratic nominee saddled with longstanding baggage about the party's credentials on national security. Yet in a reflection of shifting party fortunes on the issue of the war on terrorism, there's considerable debate about whether John McCain or Barack Obama – or neither – stands to benefit from a September courtroom drama, especially if it involves Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the so-called mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

"For any candidate to try to use an issue like this, it's necessary to have a larger theme to tie this kind of specific point to," said Rand Beers, who served in the Bush administration and worked on the John Kerry campaign in 2004 before starting National Security Network, a progressive think tank.

Rick Wilson, a Republican strategist who previously worked in the Department of Defense and made the famous 2002 ad that juxtaposed images of Democratic Senator Max Cleland and Osama Bin Laden, warned that anything having to do with Guantanamo – which both candidates have pledged to close—was probably a no-win issue for the presumptive nominees.

"I don't think either side is going to dive into ads over Gitmo," he said. "It's bad for McCain if we're in a political dialogue about Gitmo, but it's disastrous for Obama if we're in a dialogue about Khalid Sheikh Mohammed."

The Obama campaign, of course, is not willing to concede that point, as signaled by its reaction to the controversial June 12 Supreme Court decision allowing detainees to go to federal court to challenge their continued detention.

"The fact that the administration has not tried to do that has created a situation where not only have we never actually put many of these folks on trial, but we have destroyed our credibility when it comes to rule of law all around the world, and given a huge boost to terrorist recruitment in countries," said Obama last Wednesday, directly attacking the Bush administration's use of presidential power and defending the high court decision.

The two campaigns' responses to the ruling suggest that both sides would view a potential September trial as an opportunity to highlight their national security bona fides.

McCain quickly denounced the ruling as "one of the worst decisions in the history of this country" and has used it in an attempt to paint Obama as weak on terrorism and also as a supporter of judicial activism.

Last Monday, after Obama pointed to the federal government's response to the 1993 World Trade Center attack as an example of how to pursue terrorists within the legal system, Republicans seized on the comment. For the next three mornings, the McCain campaign hosted conference calls with appearances by GOP luminaries such as Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani that accused Obama of operating within a "September 10 mindset."

"The reality is there seems to be more concern about the rights of terrorists – or alleged terrorists – than the rights that the American people have to safety and security," Giuliani said.