It seems pretty clear that the war in Iraq has had the effect of strengthening the influence of the Al Qaeda variety of fundamentalism, and that a victory for Bush in the coming US election will be in the interests of such people.

It is also pretty widely believed that a further Al Qaeda atrocity in the USA, in the run up to November, would be likely to help Bush get re-elected - and that an attempt at something along these lines can be expected.

I think that it is very relevant indeed for voters in that election to take into account whether the way they vote is such as to serve the perceived interests of Al Qaeda or not, and to refuse to be manipulated in that way, whatever happens.

I'd not be the least surprised "if they published that they opt for Kerry." I'd take that as confirmation that they actually wanted Bush to win.

The Spanish situation was very different - most especially insofar as Spain was very much a minor player in this nightmare game. I would suspect that the actual result in that election would have not have been a very important issue in the minds of the terrorists. The important thing would surely have been to have been seen as affecting the elections - I suspect either result would probably have been as satisfactory.