http://mediamatters.org/items/200410300002<snip>
On the October 29 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, following the release of a taped message from Osama bin Laden, Newsweek chief political correspondent and NBC news analyst Howard Fineman spelled out how partisans of President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry each might plausibly interpret the political impact of the tape as benefiting their side in the final 72 hours of the presidential race. But while Fineman did not endorse either interpretation, a slew of cable pundits and reporters Friday night did -- and they were unanimous and mostly unequivocal in adopting the partisan Bush line. NBC's Andrea Mitchell went further, saying "it almost makes it more difficult" for Kerry to continue pointing to the administration's failure to capture or kill bin Laden.
The basis for most of these assessments is the assumption that Bush's opinion poll numbers would likely climb with terrorism back in the news. Yet a FOX News/Opinion Dynamics poll, conducted October 28 and October 29 and released late Saturday, showed Bush's support falling three points, from 50 to 47 percent. Kerry's support was unchanged at 45 percent. An article about the poll on FoxNews.com noted: "Polling was conducted Thursday and Friday evenings, so about half of those interviewed would have had the opportunity to hear reports of a new tape from Usama bin Laden." And according to Salon.com's "War Room," Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg told reporters in a call on the afternoon of October 30 that voters split 46-36 in favor of the view that the bin Laden tape makes them think Bush "took his eye off the ball in Afghanistan and diverted resources to Iraq."
While it's not possible to know what motivated bin Laden, conservatives, resurrecting their months-old "terrorists for Kerry" smear as documented by Media Matters for America (for example, here, here, here, here, here, and here) charged that the tape was designed to help Kerry, ignoring entirely the possibility that the tape was intended to help Bush. As the Bush campaign attacked the Kerry campaign for politicizing the tape, Republican National Committee (RNC) adviser Peggy Noonan appeared on FOX News Channel's Hannity & Colmes and did just that, saying, "Do you think he
wants George Bush to have a nice day on Tuesday? I don't think so."
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