How Would a Terrorist Attack Effect Upcoming Elections??
 

I have no intention of this turning into a political argument so please do not let it get to that.

I just received a newsflash e-mail from CNN saying that Homeland Security is warning that Al Queda could be planning an attack on U.S. soil in order to influence the election.

Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that attacking us before the elections is probably one of the WORST things they could do if they are trying to get Bush out of office.

Look at 9/11. After that attack Bush had some of the highest approval ratings of any President in history. It seems to me that the same would (or could) hold true if there were another attack.

Am I missing something?? Despite being so divided right now, I think this country has already shown how strongly it can come together when bad things happen. Why do they think that attacking us again would get Bush out of office??

Now...please....again...do not use this thread to advance your own political views. I do not intend for this thread to discuss who belongs in office.....even though the answer is obvious in my opinion. ;)

I think that a terrorist attack on U.S. soil would move popular opinion toward the Republican ticket as most polls show that the Republicans rate higher in the "tough on terrorism" category.

Rusty

Re: How Would a Terrorist Attack Effect Upcoming Elections??
 

maybe they want bush in office.... Nothing serves their purpose better than a hot head running around the middle east attacking the arab world.

I think they know the country is divided, united they stand, divided they fall....

of course they know that you know that they know.......[eyecrazy]

I agree with Hoss...[eyecrazy] dang that hurt[laugh]

I think any attack only serves to pull us all together and forget partisan politics. We are an odd bunch, we argue among ourselves, and often seem to have nothing in common, until an outsider steps in and threatens our peace.

Then we pull together with a resolve to fight the evil these terrorists represent. Sadly all too many Americans have forgotten how they felt on 9/11, they have gone back to sweating the small stuff.

Thank God not everyone has forgotten the importance of defending freedom, and are willing to do what must be done, when it must be done.

No one ever said keeping the freedoms our forefathers fought to give us, would be an easy thing.

they want a war right ? (normal way of life in the US disrupted, people scared, ect...) ................. what better way to garantee it than another attack .....................

Most events that affect our way of life usually make us Americans rally behind our leaders.
If a terrorist looser were to do something now, Id guess that it would strengthen Bush's ratings.

Two great quotes that symbolizes America's attitude when that outsiders steps in and threatens our peace:

and

DieselDaze, Check this image:

http://www.liberalscum.com/afghanistone.jpg

(I would have downloaded it and attached it, but didn't want to violate some copyright, so did a link).

Hoss, Quote "Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that attacking us before the elections is probably one of the WORST things they could do if they are trying to get Bush out of office."

No offense, but I think you give those terrorists way too much credit if you think that they consider cause and effect of their actions (or if you think they think at all). Apparenlty the 911 attack was partly motivated as revenge for Americans operating in middle eastern countries- and as a direct result of 911 there are MORE Americans over there AND we took over Iraq and Afganastan...

Obviously if they wanted us out of the middle east, the 911 attack predictably had the opposite effect, so logic apparently doesn't play much of a role in the decision making of the terrorist mind.

Just my $.02.

So are you saying that you think the terrorist train bombing in Spain just prior to the election was merely a coincidence? They were successful in getting the pro-coalition Spanish government toppled - why wouldn't they think (erroneously, I believe) that they could accomplish the same thing in the U.S. elections?

Rusty

Rusty,

I see your point. Spain caved in, and that is likely to encourage terrorists, but I would think they would have to realize from WWII and 9-11 that America responds differently when attacked.

Jeff

Edit: I also agree with you that an attack would likely move people toward the Republican ticket for the reason you cited, but also I feel people have a tendency to rally around the president (whatever party) when the country is in crisis...

Agreed.

Rusty

I think people that are gonna Vote Bush will and People that will vote for hanoi John will. It will not change it.

Maybe the thought is if they attack again and continue to threaten it will tire the unagressive American people and sway enough of the vote to the least of the two agressive parties. I dont think they realize the more they mess around, the more we will become involved. That is our nature, its to late to just pull out and forget about everything, or run with our tail between our legs so to speak.

I also think that if the terrorists are going to attack, they will do so without really expecting to cause a political turn in their favor, or even thinking it through.

It appears to me that the violence done by these terrorists is motivated by hate, pure and simple, and not always a means to achieve some goal or plan. A few people with a perverse misunderstanding of Islam…

The middle east doesn’t have a monopoly on people who think this way. We have our own right wing extremists who use a twisted version of Christianity to justify hate and violence...

Hoss: Whew, I think I made it through this without discussing who belongs in office, though I suppose posting a link to liberalscum.com could be considered dropping a hint.:rolleyes:

Anyway, good topic, and a pleasure to converse with you folks.

Well, I think that you shouldn't underestimate terrorist thinking. People who can pull off attacks like 9/11 are not dumb- misguided but not stupid.
IMHO the fact that turned Spain around was the reaction of the government that tried to use the attacks for their own agenda to reincinerate the hate against the Bask population- even though there were strong signs of islamic radicals having done it.
From an outsiders point of view a terrorist attack with not too many dead and a bigger one caught just before the elections is what would help Bush most. (Sounds cynical, but should not suggest that Bush is in any way involved in something like that)
The argument that Bush in office would help Al Kaida is quite valid IMHO- but even more so are US troops somewhere in the islamic world. (Regardless of the leader, to a patriot muslim in his country any foreign troop is a provocation)

Just my 2c,

AlpineRAM

I think it depends on how close to the elections it happens. Two or three weeks from the election weeks would guarantee a 2nd Bush term. A month or more out, and it gives Kerry an edge because the old "What did Bush know and when did he know it?" hollering will start up again.