I've been saying what you've come up with all along. I think that a terrorist attack, prior to the November elections, gives no clear advantage to either candidate. All the Dems have to do is to point the finger in Bush's face that he's fallen down again in protecting us, that he's been looking under all the wrong rocks, that all the civil liberties Bush has insisted we give up have not made us one lick safer. The Republicans only have to use that fear created to work on that inner part of us that doesn't want change in times of uncertainty. To me, it seems a wash.

Also, who the hell knows who the terrorists would be happier having in office? Kerry, as much as people like Tom swear can be read like a book, is a complete unknown as to how effective a commander in chief he can be. Bush, on the other hand, has laid out his cards completely. His honesty about his intentions and damn-the-torpedos, full-speed-ahead approach may be commendable on a personal level but doesn't exactly win chess matches. Were I a person bent on disrupting the United States, it'd be a pretty simple task of knowing which buttons to push on Bush to get him to react. I truly think Osama had a celebration when the bombs started flying in Iraq knowing full well that his recruiters would be working overtime in the neighborhoods where the few errant bombs fell.

Certainly the fundamentalist Shiite rulers of Iran were happy with Bush's actions in ousting their primary enemy who had kept down the Shiites in Iraq. Just which group, the Shiites or the Baathists, do you think tend more to become Al-Quaida members?

Nah, I think really that if the terrorists strike before the election, it'll have no political motivation at all unless it's a direct hit on one of the candidates themselves. My guess is their timing is more dependent on target opportunities and potential effects on our country as a whole.

Now for the disclaimer: To Homeland Security and the CIA. This post should not be included in your counts of increased chatter about terror strikes before the election. Last I looked I'm not a terrorist. lol