Posted on 01/31/2005 2:35:05 PM PST by Cornpone
US Democratic Senator John Kerry says a video message from Osama Bin Laden sealed his defeat in a presidential race dominated by the 9/11 attacks. Mr Kerry told NBC TV his opinion poll lead over President George W Bush fell away after the tape was broadcast.
He said national security was the decisive issue in the November 2004 poll, won eventually by President Bush.
Osama Bin Laden's video, shown days before the vote, urged Americans to back neither Mr Bush nor Mr Kerry.
"Your security does not lie in the hands of Kerry, Bush or al-Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands," said the al-Qaeda figurehead, claiming that the best way for the US to avoid fresh attacks was to call off its "war on terror".
Ratings loss
Mr Kerry said he was proud of his presidential campaign, claiming it had brought "millions of new voters" into the political process.
"Many Republicans say we beat their models by four or five points," he said.
The Bin Laden tape appeared just days before the vote
"I won the youth vote. I won the independent vote. I won the moderate vote."
But, Mr Kerry said, he had faced a difficult task in persuading a country at war "to shift horses in midstream".
"I believe that 9/11 was the central deciding issue in this race," he said.
He said the impact of Bin Laden's message was evident by the dent in his ratings that followed its appearance.
"We were rising in the polls up until the last day when the tape appeared. We flat-lined the day the tape appeared and went down on Monday."
Attack on Rice
Mr Kerry also renewed attacks on President Bush over his handling of the conflict in Iraq.
He argued that a new Iraqi security force was not being forged rapidly enough and that the government's attitude had made the US less safe.
"I believe this administration has set back America's interests and security on a global basis. And over the next few months, I intend to lay out very, very clearly exactly how they've done and how we can do a better job."
Senator Kerry recently attacked Condoleezza Rice in the run-up to her confirmation as Secretary of State.
He told NBC she was the "principal architect, implementer and defender" of a policy that had made the US less secure.
the only reason America is less secure than it should be, is that we let traitorous bitches like Kerry and Kennedy avoid the noose.
LOL. Kerry can't even make up his mind on why he lost.
Bin Laden didn't give Lurch good enough talking pionts to win?
Kerry will blame his defeat on everyone but himself. He is a pathetic loser.
LOL. Too bad he lost the overall vote.
pathetic is right. he was a p poor candidate...it's scary that he came as close as he did.........
nikos
I guess if Bin Laden had been captured by the Bush Administration, Kerry would have won the election.
This guy is delusional!!!
Kerry is unraveling fast, he needs psychotherapy.
Yep, too bad they were all Republicans.
I agree with F'n..endorsing Bin Laden was a mistake.
There are some people that voted for Bush, rather you, because unlike you, they already know that UBL is the enemy.
Why would UBL threaten states that voted for Bush, if you didn't have your "implicit" blessing?
UBL was warned that the US voter is not the Spanish voter.
He's a liar. As though that is a surprise.
The polls, as I recall, showed no change with the airing of that video. Unless he is refering to private polling but as, I believe, someone in the Kerry campaign leaked false exit data to the media they even believed was true I don't believe in the reliability of their polling.
I will say this. If Osama DID hurt Kerry, why? Perhaps kerry ought to ask himself that obvious question. Could it be because Osama's talking points came direct from kerry, DNC and Michael Moore?
bin Laden??? I thought it was the 61 million voters who hated his ass? Maybe I was wrong.
Kerry lost since he was a traitor, gun grabber, and an all around arrogant ass.
LOL
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