Geraldo Rivera reports that Senator John Kerry has placed at least part of the blame for his defeat on the Osama Bin Laden tape that was released the week before Election Day. I would agree with the Senator that foreign affairs were the primary reason for his defeat in the election, but it would be revisionist history to blame the tape alone for Bush's victory.
One should not forget that it was Senator Kerry (along with CBS/New York Times) who made the (not) stolen explosives the major story in the week prior to the election. The Senator was primarily responsible for keeping so much focus on Iraq and the war on terror by focusing endlessly upon the issue (against President Clinton's apparent advice). Indeed, in exit polls, those who expressed most concern about the Bin Laden video seem to have favored Senator Kerry. Granted, it was only by a small margin, and the exit poll results are suspect, but there is little reason to believe that the tape caused a groundswell of support for the President. Additionally, most tracking polls and regular national polls taken in the days immediately preceding the election showed little difference as a result of the tape. If anything, the polls in waning days of the campaign showed the race tightening slightly - not a surge in support for the President.