# ObL Tape: Will it affect the election? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 29, 2004, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-tape-will-it-affect-the-election/271915 "2004-10-29T20:04:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-tape-will-it-affect-the-election/271915/1 "2004-10-29T20:04:20Z")
I’m just hearing this now on CNN. ObL is supposed to explain why he ordered the attacks on 9/11/01. Figured I might well get a thread going on it. Is this one huge Oct. surprise or what? Let’s debate the affect on next week’s election. [Link.](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=1&u=/nm/20041029/ts_nm/security_qaeda_binladen_dc) ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-tape-will-it-affect-the-election/271915/2 "2004-10-29T20:12:03Z")
A nickel says it won’t be Osama, but one of his assistants or something. ---
**Author:** ![Avenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Avenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avenger)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-tape-will-it-affect-the-election/271915/3 "2004-10-29T20:13:40Z")
It’s Dick Cheney in a false beard… ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-tape-will-it-affect-the-election/271915/4 "2004-10-29T20:14:48Z")
> [@HubZilla](#): > > A nickel says it won’t be Osama, but one of his assistants or something. Have you seen the tape? It’s him. And it appears to be relatively recent. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-tape-will-it-affect-the-election/271915/5 "2004-10-29T20:15:17Z")
I say that part of not dealing with terrorists should be not airing tapes from him. I’m not suggesting that the state try to control the media, but I hope that various media outlets decide not to give him air time to influence our politics. I think an explanation that it amounts to “dealing with terrorists” would put most Americans on the tv stations’ side. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-tape-will-it-affect-the-election/271915/6 "2004-10-29T20:17:42Z")
And the October Surprise goes to…Osama! ---
**Author:** ![Avenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Avenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avenger)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-tape-will-it-affect-the-election/271915/7 "2004-10-29T20:18:10Z")
By that standard, replying to this thread constitutes ‘dealing with terrorists’ 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-tape-will-it-affect-the-election/271915/8 "2004-10-29T20:20:28Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Is this one huge Oct. surprise or what? Let’s debate the affect on next week’s election. I think this is what he’s trying for anyways. I heard he ends the tape with "I’m Osama Bin Ladin and I approve this message. Morbid humor aside, I think this will be a blow to Bush, as he’s been trying to move the focus of the War on Terror to Iraq. Having Osama show that he’s still alive and relavant will add sting to John Kerry’s (rather unjustified but effective IMHO) charge that the president let Osama go in Tora Bora so he could chase use the military Saddam around. Course, we’ll see what OBL says. That could make the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-tape-will-it-affect-the-election/271915/9 "2004-10-29T20:23:40Z")
Peter Jennings said that Israel’s invasion of Lebanon (?_) and bombing of towers in Beirut (?_) originally gave bin Laden the idea to topple the towers. ABC broke into regular programming for about five minutes. \*question marks only because I’m not really up on world events like that from the less-recent past, so if I got stuff wrong I apologize. I’ve been trying to pay more attention lately though. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-tape-will-it-affect-the-election/271915/10 "2004-10-29T20:24:19Z")
Osama says Bush could have been more prepared for the 9/11 attack He mentions _My Pet Goat_!! He says the 1982 invasion of Lebanon by Israel is what started the whole process. ---
**Author:** ![Rashak\_Mani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-tape-will-it-affect-the-election/271915/11 "2004-10-29T20:26:41Z")
hhmm… if Osama doesn’t say anything beyond Allah is great and the US is not… I venture that both sides will see it differently. Dopers will see it as a failure by Bush… Bushites will see it as trying to “scare” americans to vote for Kerry. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-tape-will-it-affect-the-election/271915/12 "2004-10-29T20:28:56Z")
> [@](#): > > I say that part of not dealing with terrorists should be not airing tapes from him. Well tell that to Al-Jeezera. Thats who aired it originally. Or do you think that we should just try to keep it from the American people? ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-tape-will-it-affect-the-election/271915/13 "2004-10-29T20:30:19Z")
Drudge’s headline is that Osama campaigns against Bush, though the quotes released so far don’t seem to say anything like that. But the groundwork is apparently already in place to claim that this means we all must vote for Bush or else we must love Osama. ---
**Author:** ![Monocracy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monocracy/32/4493_2.png) [@Monocracy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monocracy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-tape-will-it-affect-the-election/271915/14 "2004-10-29T20:35:16Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I say that part of not dealing with terrorists should be not airing tapes from him. I’m not suggesting that the state try to control the media, but I hope that various media outlets decide not to give him air time to influence our politics. I think an explanation that it amounts to “dealing with terrorists” would put most Americans on the tv stations’ side. Do you advocate suppression of speech? Personally, i think that is anti-American. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-tape-will-it-affect-the-election/271915/15 "2004-10-29T20:39:25Z")
> [@Monocracy](#): > > Do you advocate suppression of speech? Personally, i think that is anti-American. Oh, bull. Do you think all of the Unabomber’s demands to print his treatises should have been published? I’m issuing a statement right now, and I demand CNN air it. They’re not? My first-amendment rights are being denied! :rolleyes: bin Laden is trying to influence our elections. If you let him, you’ve given him a lot of power. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-tape-will-it-affect-the-election/271915/16 "2004-10-29T20:39:45Z")
…in which he told Americans their security does not depend on the president they elect, but on U.S. policy. I hate the man with a million burning passions, but this is a pretty rational statement. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-tape-will-it-affect-the-election/271915/17 "2004-10-29T20:40:52Z")
This will help Bush. Every poll shows that Americans think that Bush will handle the “War on Terror” better than Kerry, this will push it back to the front burner. Note that I said “War on Terror”, not Iraq. Osama has just killed that missing explosive story and has pushed even Iraq out of the picture, returning us to just the “War on Terror” where Bush wants it. Osama just cemented Bushs victory. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-tape-will-it-affect-the-election/271915/18 "2004-10-29T20:43:17Z")
Does anyone think that the release of this tape may signal another attack of some kind? I agree with Muad’dib, this pretty much just won the election for Bush. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-tape-will-it-affect-the-election/271915/19 "2004-10-29T20:43:22Z")
What if it’s old footage? I’ve not heard of anyone mentioning anything that shows the video is of a recent vintage. ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-tape-will-it-affect-the-election/271915/20 "2004-10-29T20:46:19Z")
> [@Muad'Dib](#): > > This will help Bush. Every poll shows that Americans think that Bush will handle the “War on Terror” better than Kerry, this will push it back to the front burner. Note that I said “War on Terror”, not Iraq. Osama has just killed that missing explosive story and has pushed even Iraq out of the picture, returning us to just the “War on Terror” where Bush wants it. > > Osama just cemented Bushs victory. How? By reminding America of how Bush let him go at Tora Bora? I may be wrong here, honestly, but I don’t see this as a defenite Bush positive [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obl-tape-will-it-affect-the-election/271915.md?page=2)