McCain In 2004: "Bin Laden May Have Just Given Us A Little Boost"

[jefferson_dem]

McCain In 2004: "Bin Laden May Have Just Given Us A Little Boost"
By Greg Sargent - June 25, 2008, 2:21PM

This is a live one. John McCain said he strenuously disagrees with top adviser Charlie Black's comment that a terror attack on U.S. soil would help McCain's campaign -- but more evidence has just emerged that McCain does believe this, or a variation of it, anyway.

The latest? Back in 2004, as McCain was stumping in Connecticut on behalf of GOP Rep. Chris Shays, McCain said flatly that the recent release of an Osama Bin Laden tape had likely given the GOP a "little boost."

This is courtesy of The Hour, a daily paper in Norwalk, Connecticut, in November of that year (also verified in Nexis)...

But as McCain greets two breakfast-eating business partners, one from Stamford and the other from Bridgeport, the topic turns to the presidential race. The two men tell the senator they support President George W. Bush, and to that end, McCain says, "(Osama) Bin Laden may have just given us a little boost. Amazing, huh?"....

The two men, who requested anonymity, nod their heads in agreement. Later, while riding with Shays on an RV to a rally at the Stamford Government Center, McCain further explains, "(The video) is helpful to President Bush because it puts the focus on the war on terrorism."

The reference was to a tape of Bin Laden that had emerged a few days earlier. The McCain camp didn't immediately return an email.

<SNIP>

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/mccain_in_2004_bin_laden_may_h.php