October Surprise, Osama Alive And Well

Al Jazeera Airs Videotape Said to Be of Osama bin Laden
It's hard to figure out what to make of this.

Reading from papers before him in a nondescript setting, Mr. Bin Laden mentions both Mr. Bush and his Democratic opponent, Senator John Kerry, and in a reference to the election on Tuesday, says, according to an translation by Al Jazeera: "Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or Al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands."

I'm not sure what this means but it doesn't sound like an endorsement for either candidate to me. On the one hand Bush has done just about everything Osama bin Laden could have wanted him to do including not catching him. On the other hand I'm sure that bin Laden has a visceral hate for all things Bush because of their ties to the Saudi government. He did say one thing we will have to agree with:

Mr. Bin Laden also said the Bush administration resembled "corrupt" Arab governments.

Hard to argue with that.
The impact will depend on how the Kerry campaign responds and judging from past performance that does concern me. Let's be honest, Rove and the Republicans are much better spinners.

Update
Steve Soto at the Left Coaster, who is much wiser than I, points out that Osama bin Laden does talk about Bush's incompetence both before and after 911.