“The unexpected reappearance of bin Laden [in a videotape on October 29, 2004] did remind Americans that the Bush administration still had not caught the terrorist mastermind, but it also reminded them of the threat from terrorism, an issue on which Bush was seen as stronger than his rival [in the upcoming presidential election], Senator John Kerry [D-MA]. Kerry later said [in an interview with journalist Peter Bergen on December 7, 2010] that the bin Laden tape’s appearance in the final days of the close election race was a critical factor in his loss to Bush. ‘It froze our polls that night, and over the weekend, we went down one point by Monday,’ Kerry recalls, adding, ‘There was no other issue, other than 48 hours of talk about the War on Terror and Osama bin Laden. It had a profound impact.’ “
– Peter Bergen, The Longest War, Page 342