Sept. 11 report unlikely to aid Kerry - analysts
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-07-23 10:56

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate is unlikely to gain a campaign edge against President Bush despite findings of widespread intelligence failures in a report on the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, analysts said on Thursday. 

Septeber 11 commission Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton, center, speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill July 22, 2004, following release of commission's final report. Behind Hamilton are commission Chairman Thomas Kean, left, and Sen. Joseph Leiberman, D-Conn, second right. At right is Sen. John McCain,R-Ariz. [AP]

The bipartisan panel's report would not have a major political impact because it did not single out the Bush administration for blame and because Bush has maintained a clear majority of support on the terrorism issue, the analysts said.

"As the saying goes, if everyone's to blame, then no one's to blame," said Carroll Doherty, editor at the Washington-based Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, which conducts regular nationwide polls.

The commission's final report on the attacks that killed 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania criticized both the Bush and Clinton administrations on Thursday for failing to grasp the threat posed by al Qaeda.

Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-MA) comments on the release of the 9/11 Commissions report in Detroit, July 22, 2004. [Reuters]

The commission's Republican chairman and Democratic vice chairman asked both parties to set aside their campaign differences and unite to strengthen security.

In a White House race marked by a slim margin of undecided voters, Bush's edge in support on the terrorism issue has held fast despite months of revelations of intelligence failures from the Sept. 11 commission and the Senate Intelligence Committee.

"Terrorism is one issue where the president has consistently had a majority," Doherty said.

Valecia Parker, a survivor of the 11 September, 2001 terrorist attack on the Pentagon cries during a meeting of the 9/11 Commission after a copy of their report was released in Washington, DC. [AFP]

On Thursday, a new CNN/USAToday/Gallup poll conducted July 19-21 showed Bush leading Kerry 56 percent to 38 percent on the question of who would do a better job of fighting terrorism, barely changed from two months ago.

Nevertheless, Democrats will make national security a top issue next week at their national convention in Boston, where Kerry will formally become the party's presidential nominee.

The Massachusetts senator and his running mate, Sen., will then crisscross the country for speeches lambasting Bush's record on security matters including the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

Kerry promised to implement a new national security strategy if elected and urged quick action to carry out commission recommendations. "We must do better. It's time to act now," Kerry said in a statement.

Bush's campaign said the commission's report "makes the case for the policies that President Bush has been pursuing in the war on terror."

Southern Methodist University political science professor Calvin Jillson said Bush could be vulnerable to the report's finding that Iran had numerous links with al Qaeda before the attacks, while Iraq had no collaborative relationship with the militant network.

"People who don't follow these things all the time may wonder if we hit the wrong country, and he'll have to explain that in his stump speeches," Jillson said.

Bert Rockman, director of Ohio State University's School of Public Policy and Management, said voters have already made up their minds on a candidate and may not be swayed by the report.

A recent Pew Research poll showed Kerry leading Bush 46-44 percent, with three percent for Ralph Nader.

Frank Newport, editor-in-chief of the Princeton, New Jersey-based Gallup Poll, said terrorism was not an issue likely to bring larger numbers to the polls. "The top issue continues to be the economy," he said.

Some analysts said the release of the Sept. 11 report would pressure Bush to respond to panel recommendations, particularly the appointment of an intelligence czar and fundamental reform.

While the commission reiterated the warning that another attack on U.S. soil was expected, the panel also supported Bush's claim that America is safer because of changes undertaken as part of his war on terrorism.

"We believe we are safer today than we were on 9/11 -- but we are not safe," Chairman Thomas Kean and Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton said in their public statement released.

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