Ripped from Daily Kos

Um, vote Hope not fear

Republicans celebrate their incompetence
by kos
Sat Oct 30th, 2004 at 19:56:54 GMT

No surprise, but the Bush people are giddy as can be that they've failed to capture or kill Osama.
"We want people to think 'terrorism' for the last four days," said a Bush-Cheney campaign official. "And anything that raises the issue in people's minds is good for us."
A senior GOP strategist added, "anything that makes people nervous about their personal safety helps Bush."

He called it "a little gift," saying it helps the President but doesn't guarantee his reelection.

And as the Chicken Littles among us run around in a blind panic, note that Fox News's pollster reported that Bush's numbers have gone down since the OBL tape aired. (Poll here. Info that the post-OBL numbers for Bush were down came from the broadcast.)
I'm not sure why Republicans think the American voters will reward incompetence.