Kerry blames bin Laden for defeat

From combined dispatches

Sen. John Kerry believes the videotape of Osama bin Laden that appeared days before the Nov. 2 election cost him the presidency, Fox News reported yesterday.

The Massachusetts Democrat told Fox News the tape first aired by Arab television network Al Jazeera may have scared the American electorate.

Mr. Kerry said the tape was released too late for his camp to rebut and the Democratic campaign couldn’t counteract it in time for the election.

Fox’s Geraldo Rivera spoke with Mr. Kerry on Thursday as the senator and a slew of other notables — including wife Teresa Heinz Kerry, actors Robin Williams and Morgan Freeman, and comedian Chris Tucker — were in a holding room prior to the processional leading up to the formal opening of the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, yesterday agreed the tape favored President Bush but would not say it led to Mr. Kerry’s defeat.

Mr. Kerry yesterday called on his Democratic Party to hold Mr. Bush accountable in the next four years.

“Despite the words of cooperation and moderate-sounding promises, this administration is planning a right-wing assault on values and ideals we hold most deeply,” Mr. Kerry wrote in an e-mail.

“This is the beginning of a second-term effort to hold the Bush administration accountable and to stand up and fight for our principles and our values,” he added.