Serial slanderers like Dennis Hastert say terrorists want John Kerry to win. The facts say George W. Bush is al-Qaida's best recruitment tool.
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By Joe Conason
Sept. 24, 2004 | In recent days, the Republican campaign has descended still further into unrestrained fear-mongering. Not only would John Kerry's election put America in greater peril from terrorism, cry the party's spokesmen and their media enablers, but terrorists themselves are actually hoping that Kerry will defeat George W. Bush.
Such raw demagoguery is scarcely surprising in an election season as soiled as this one -- and even less so emanating from the mouth of House Speaker Dennis Hastert, the serial slanderer who insinuated last month that Democratic funder George Soros made his fortune from narcotics trafficking.
At an Illinois fundraiser on Sept. 18, Hastert said, "I think that the terrorists, the al-Qaida, would like to influence this election. They would like to influence this election just like they influenced the election in Spain, but the American people aren't going to let that happen." The terrorists, said Hastert, would operate with "more comfort" if Kerry wins.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2004/09/24/hastert/index.html