Posted on 11/19/2004 7:52:15 AM PST by crushelits
NEW YORK — John Kerry believes he lost to President Bush because of the video from Usama bin Laden that surfaced just days before the Nov. 2 presidential election.
The Massachusetts senator told FOX News' senior correspondent Geraldo Rivera that he believes he lost because the tape may have scared the American electorate.
Rivera spoke to Kerry on Thursday as the senator and a slew of other notable names — including wife Teresa Heinz Kerry, actors Robin Williams and Morgan Freeman and comedian Chris Tucker — were in a holding room prior to the processional leading up to the formal opening of the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Ark.
"Tough luck, Senator," Rivera said to Kerry, referring to the Democrat's election loss.
Trying to recount Kerry's words verbatim, Rivera said Kerry responded by saying:
"Yes, it was those Usama tapes. The Usama tape came out too late for us to rebut and it scared people, and we couldn't counteract it in time for the Tuesday election."
"Sen. Kerry clearly believes not only is it the security issue that cost him the election, but very specifically the Usama tapes coming out in the 11th hour," Rivera reported Friday morning.
Kerry also acknowledged that the security issue in general hurt him in the race, Rivera said.
The broadcast of the tape from the Al Qaeda leader jolted the campaign's closing days, accentuating the terrorism theme with a reminder of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
In the tape, aired by the Arab television network Al-Jazeera, bin Laden spoke directly to the American people. He admitted for the first time that he carried out the Sept. 11 attacks and said the attacks would have been less severe if Bush had been more alert.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Gee, and I thought it was because President Bush got more voptes!
Still doesn't get. Probably never will.
I say let them believe this. First it was blame the homophobic Christians, now it's blame the Osama tape.
It will never be, "Kerry was a really sh*tty candidate".
Gee, maybe's Kerry decision to have many of the same positions as the enemy was a bad one.
UBL tape, my eye!
Yup! Scared the crap right out of and family values right into folks that went to the polls!
UBL
Catholics
Non-voters
Who else will he blame?
Yeah, bin Laden's fault.
Surely it wasn't that he was a Northeastern liberal who didn't connect with the Red States.
Finally, Kerry and the Dems will blame Bin Laden!
Kerry's loss wasn't Bush's fault!
LOL! Pitiful.
How about Top Democratic spokesmen Michael Moore insisting that there was "no terrorist threat?"
Did that have anything to do with your loss as well, Effin Kerry?
I forgot one:
SwiftVets
That pesky nuisance. Rebut? What's he going to say? "Pay no attention to that terrorist behind 9/11." ?
Liberals - It's never their fault.
I thought Osama endorsed Kerry in the video.
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