On Elections and Helpful Enemies
I have noticed a pattern emerging when it comes to fearmongering during campaign seasons. While most of the comments were delivered with a heavy dose of sarcasm, no doubt there were some who seriously expected Osama Bin Laden to come out of hiding and allow the GOP to ramp up the fear just prior to the elections. They are probably surprised the terrorist leader has apparently decided sit this one out.
But something else did happen. Saddam Hussein was thrust front and center. The timing of his conviction for war crimes has been heavily questioned in the liberal blogosphere. That Bush is now hailing the verdict at campaign speeches only cements the belief that this event was a "November Surprise" orchestrated by the administration. Then there is also the fact, as Creature points out, the verdict itself isn't even ready but they announced it on Sunday anyway.
Few, however, will note the sense of deja vu as it was four years ago that Saddam was again the focus of another congressional election. In October of 2002, President Bush presented a resolution for the use of military force in Iraq. Even though the resolution passed, Democratic opposition to the bill was used to oust them from power.
As we all know, that resolution was eventually used by President Bush to justify an invasion of Iraq in 2003. And while Saddam's regime was dispatched fairly quickly, as the months dragged on it soon became evident that there were no WMD's to be found.
With the 2004 presidential election fast approaching, Bush was hoping to ride on to electoral victory as a strong wartime leader. But his re-election bid faced a decisive challenge from Democratic Senator John Kerry. During the month of October, Kerry was gaining ground on Bush and a repeat of the 2000 debacle looked increasingly likely.
Then Osama showed up.
On October 29th, just four days before the election, Bin Laden released a videotape in which he rallied against President Bush. His words were seen by many as an endorsement of Kerry and as a result, Bush received a much needed boost in the polls. And while it was thought at the time that the tape was be an "October Surprise" designed to thwart the President's re-election, recently we've learned that the CIA concluded that the tape was in fact designed to help Bush win.
Given what we now know, it stands to reason that Osama's absence this election cycle could mean that he intends to bide his time until he is able to affect the 2008 presidential election. So it would seem that Saddam will have to do this time around again, though how likely this verdict is to have an effect on the electorate remains to be seen. Because despite what Cheney says, Osama only cares about helping the Decider.
(Filed at State of the Day)
But something else did happen. Saddam Hussein was thrust front and center. The timing of his conviction for war crimes has been heavily questioned in the liberal blogosphere. That Bush is now hailing the verdict at campaign speeches only cements the belief that this event was a "November Surprise" orchestrated by the administration. Then there is also the fact, as Creature points out, the verdict itself isn't even ready but they announced it on Sunday anyway.
Few, however, will note the sense of deja vu as it was four years ago that Saddam was again the focus of another congressional election. In October of 2002, President Bush presented a resolution for the use of military force in Iraq. Even though the resolution passed, Democratic opposition to the bill was used to oust them from power.
As we all know, that resolution was eventually used by President Bush to justify an invasion of Iraq in 2003. And while Saddam's regime was dispatched fairly quickly, as the months dragged on it soon became evident that there were no WMD's to be found.
With the 2004 presidential election fast approaching, Bush was hoping to ride on to electoral victory as a strong wartime leader. But his re-election bid faced a decisive challenge from Democratic Senator John Kerry. During the month of October, Kerry was gaining ground on Bush and a repeat of the 2000 debacle looked increasingly likely.
Then Osama showed up.
On October 29th, just four days before the election, Bin Laden released a videotape in which he rallied against President Bush. His words were seen by many as an endorsement of Kerry and as a result, Bush received a much needed boost in the polls. And while it was thought at the time that the tape was be an "October Surprise" designed to thwart the President's re-election, recently we've learned that the CIA concluded that the tape was in fact designed to help Bush win.
Given what we now know, it stands to reason that Osama's absence this election cycle could mean that he intends to bide his time until he is able to affect the 2008 presidential election. So it would seem that Saddam will have to do this time around again, though how likely this verdict is to have an effect on the electorate remains to be seen. Because despite what Cheney says, Osama only cares about helping the Decider.
(Filed at State of the Day)
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