CNN: Bush feels Bin Laden aided his re-election campaign

[VTBob]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- President Bush said his 2004 re-election victory over Sen. John Kerry was inadvertently aided by Osama bin Laden, The Washington Examiner newspaper reported Tuesday.

The al Qaeda leader had issued a taped diatribe against Bush the Friday before Americans went to the polls

Bush said there were "enormous amounts of discussion" inside his campaign about the 15-minute tape, which he called "an interesting entry by our enemy" into the presidential race.

Bush's comments in the Washington newspaper were excerpts from the new book "Strategery" by Bill Sammon, a longtime White House correspondent.

"What does it mean? Is it going to help? Is it going to hurt?" Bush told Sammon of the bin Laden tapes.

"Anything that drops in at the end of a campaign that is not already decided creates all kinds of anxieties, because you're not sure of the effect.

"I thought it was going to help," Bush said.

"I thought it would help remind people that if bin Laden doesn't want Bush to be the president, something must be right with Bush."

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/28/bush.binladen.reut/index.html

...or it would help remind the people of our bumbling administrations inability to catch him :rolleyes:

[Ibleedburgundy]

I find this concept of finding out who your enemy would vote for and then going against it, to be weak-minded. Why let your enemy have any influence at all?

[Spence]

The tape helped Bush, obviously. How much is something we'll never know. Maybe Bush would have won anyway. The interesting issue is whether or not bin Laden intended the tape to help Bush.

[akhhorus]

Beslan helped Bush far more than the Bin Laden tape. When they pulled out a dead child on NBC(although the killing began there when a group of armed parents tried storming the school even though a deal had been worked out between Russia and the terrorists to let the Children go is just a minor detail here) and Kerry couldn't explain clearly why he would be better against terrorism than Bush, he was finished.

[CNYSkinFan]

I still say two guys kissing in public did more for Bush then all of his National Security and foreign policy credentials put together. Sam sex marriage amendments across the country and mailings from evangelical churches helped sway the tide in battleground states.

[Spence]

I still say two guys kissing in public did more for Bush then all of his National Security and foreign policy credentials put together.That's a good point.

Akhh, I'm just not sure how many Americans were even aware of Beslan.

[RedskinsDave]

Akhh, I'm just not sure how many Americans were even aware of Beslan.

I agree. That's giving waaaaay too much credit.

[CNYSkinFan]

That's a good point.

Akhh, I'm just not sure how many Americans were even aware of Beslan.

Who is this Beslan character anyway? Is he related to Bin Laden?

[Spence]

Who is this Beslan character anyway? Is he related to Bin Laden?It was a massive slaughter of people, at least half of them schoolchildren, during a hostage-taking by Islamic extremists in the city of Beslan in Russia in 2004.

Learn more. (http://www.time.com/time/europe/html/040913/story.html)

[CNYSkinFan]

sorry I was being a sarcastic dumb american...I knew about Beslan...it was a bad bad joke

[Ibleedburgundy]

sorry I was being a sarcastic dumb american...I knew about Beslan...it was a bad bad joke

I thought it was funny.

[akhhorus]

That's a good point.

Akhh, I'm just not sure how many Americans were even aware of Beslan.

It was a major news story, and even if they didn't know the name, the terms "islamic Terrorists" and "elementary school" and "dead children" were all over the news for 2 weeks.

[OCSkinzFan]

Bush feels Bin Laden aided his re-election campaign

Quite possibly the most diabolical thing Bin Laden has accomplished.