# It's official: The terrorists want Bush to lose **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 27, 2004, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436 "2004-10-27T13:11:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436/21 "2004-10-27T16:29:53Z")
Terrorists, why do you hate America? Uh … woops … they DO hate America … ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436/22 "2004-10-27T16:30:27Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > So, which group of terrorists do we make happy? I say we let the terrorists worry about their own happiness. If they want a say in who rules our country, let them buy political advertising just like anyone else. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436/23 "2004-10-27T16:31:28Z")
> [@Apos](#): > > I’d rather piss of Putin/Russia and Iran/assholes than Britian and Canada and, well, most of the Democratic world. Well, you either get to piss off the British government, or the British people. Which do you want? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436/24 "2004-10-27T16:38:30Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > I say we let the terrorists worry about their own happiness. If they want a say in who rules our country, let them buy political advertising just like anyone else. > > Daniel Um, they DO buy political advertsing. It’s just that their preferred currency is blood. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436/25 "2004-10-27T16:42:01Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > Um, they DO buy political advertsing. It’s just that their preferred currency is blood. Yeah, but that right there is a violation of McCain-Feingold. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436/26 "2004-10-27T17:35:54Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Isn’t the _Times_ owned by the Moonies? That’s what everyone keeps saying. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436/27 "2004-10-27T17:46:10Z")
In other news, the Iranian mullahs want Bush to win. [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1325880,00.html](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1325880,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436/28 "2004-10-27T17:54:03Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > In other news, the Iranian mullahs want Bush to win. [The Times & The Sunday Times](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1325880,00.html) You should start a thread on that or something. Oh, wait… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436/29 "2004-10-27T18:03:47Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > You should start a thread on that or something. Oh, wait… :rolleyes: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=283250](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=283250)😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436/30 "2004-10-27T18:15:31Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Yeah, but that right there is a violation of McCain-Feingold. > Daniel They’re in violation of McCain-Feingold?? :eek: That’s it! Book’em, Dano! ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436/31 "2004-10-28T13:18:41Z")
At the risk of changing the tone within the post, a Spain style attack just before the election would result in a Bush landslide. Should it happen, there will be endless debate on whether the terrorists assumed that the American Public would react like the Spanish and cave in or whether the terrorists knew that the result would be a Bush re-election. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436/32 "2004-10-28T16:48:54Z")
> [@Evil One](#): > > … would react like the Spanish and cave in … And there was me thinking that Aznar had already made himself unpopular by siding with Bush, and then tried to make political capital from the bombs by trying to blame ETA… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![FlyingDragonFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436/33 "2004-10-28T17:14:07Z")
> [@Evil One](#): > > At the risk of changing the tone within the post, a Spain style attack just before the election would result in a Bush landslide. Would it? I was just thinking about this yesterday. How many people would react more like, “Bush can’t even keep OUR country safe, despite all his reassurances.” ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436/34 "2004-11-01T16:29:22Z")
Yes, I think it would. I think that Bin Laden demonstrated a basic misunderstanding of the American psyche with the 9/11 attacks. I wonder if he still thinks it was worth it after the response he got. If another attack comes in the next 36 hours, most Americans will be calling for blood…and Bush is seen by a large majority as the better terror warrior than Kerry. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436/35 "2004-11-01T16:35:09Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > And there was me thinking that Aznar had already made himself unpopular by siding with Bush, and then tried to make political capital from the bombs by trying to blame ETA… :rolleyes: (Before the explosion with Aznar leading in the polls) Zapatero: “I’ll pull out those troops from Iraq if I win!” BOOM! Electorate stampeded to Zapatero in the false hope that they will be left alone if they do as the terrorists want. Why not think that way? It worked for Chamberlin in Munich. The terrorists have now been sent the message that terror will work as a political tool to influence elections. It will be interesting to see what happens when the next EU election rolls around. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436/36 "2004-11-01T16:42:44Z")
> [@Evil One](#): > > Electorate stampeded to Zapatero in the false hope that they will be left alone if they do as the terrorists want. That claim would make sense, if the vast majority hadn’t been in opposition to the war from the start. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436/37 "2004-11-01T16:48:05Z")
> [@Evil One](#): > > Yes, I think it would. I think that Bin Laden demonstrated a basic misunderstanding of the American psyche with the 9/11 attacks. I wonder if he still thinks it was worth it after the response he got. If another attack comes in the next 36 hours, most Americans will be calling for blood…and Bush is seen by a large majority as the better terror warrior than Kerry. UbL et al relocated and battened down the hatches for each of the significant attacks on US targets in anticipation of retaliation. It appears that he had an idea of what he was getting into. Aren’t we already pursuing UbL with everything we’ve got? Aren’t we already calling for blood? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436/38 "2004-11-01T18:03:53Z")
Half of us are. The other half are trying to forget a couple of decades of looking at the Defense Department and CIA as ideologically offensive. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436/39 "2004-11-01T18:05:46Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > That claim would make sense, if the vast majority hadn’t been in opposition to the war from the start. Even assuming you are correct, the message sent to outsiders is the key…in this case, the terrorists. All they see is (a) bombs explode and (b) their demands are acceded to. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436/40 "2004-11-01T19:52:03Z")
> [@Evil One](#): > > Even assuming you are correct, the message sent to outsiders is the key…in this case, the terrorists. All they see is (a) bombs explode and (b) their demands are acceded to. So we should base all our actions on them being the oppostie of what terrorists would interpret as their actions being effective (whether or not that is the reason for said actions)? And I’m fairly sure they already knew just how unpopular the war and Bush were in Europe long before the Madrid bomb. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-official-the-terrorists-want-bush-to-lose/271436.md?page=3)