Will our election protect us?
: I wonder whether our upcoming election will protect us from al Qaeda attacks.
They obviously wanted to affect Spain’s elections — and succeeded, getting rid of the Conservative government allied with Bush’s war effort.
But if they want to get rid of Bush, the worst thing they could do is attack here. I do not believe that American voters would react to an attack — like the Spanish — and blame the guy the terrorists blame. Quite to the contrary, an attack would make us angry and defiant and would send us toward Bush, especially since he is still the one acting tougher on terrorism.
And the terrorists are not idiots, politically. So if they want to show they can wage influence in world politics, they are more likely, unfortunately, to go after America’s other allies. God forbid.
: But even the anti-war Guardian says that an attack in England would not help the terrorists get rid of Bush-ally Blair:
…ministers are privately calculating the prospects for a “security election” in Britain in which a similar attack may be attempted….
But Labour’s leadership believes that an attack similar to Madrid would have the effect of driving British voters, more evenly divided on the war, behind strong and established leadership.
With the Conservatives (unlike Spain’s socialists) pro-war, the Liberal Democrats may benefit most from anti-Blair voting.
The Tory defence spokesman, Nicholas Soames, backed the Blair analysis. “In times of trouble, you don’t want change, you want the status quo.” conceded another senior opposition MP.
