The Bush Administration is set to announce later today that terrorists are planning major attacks within the United States in part to influence the fall presidential election. From The Washington Post:

The concerns are driven by intelligence deemed credible that was obtained about a month ago indicating an attack may be planned between now and Labor Day.

That information dovetails with other intelligence "chatter" suggesting that al Qaeda operatives are pleased with the change in government resulting from the March 11 terrorist bombings in Spain and may want to affect elections in the United States and other countries.

"They saw that an attack of that nature can have economic and political consequences and have some impact on the electoral process," said one federal official with access to counterterrorism intelligence.

First, the election results in Spain were more the result that the government lied and withheld information about the attacks – blaming Spanish terrorists even with information that al Qaeda was actually responsible – in an attempt to whip up nationalistic fever. It backfired and the incumbent government was thrown from office. It didn’t help that Spanish voters were opposed to their nation’s involvement in Iraq by over 80%.

What the Bush Administration is trying to do here is clear: sending a message that a vote for Kerry and changing directions is a vote for bin Laden and Hussein. It is a scare tactic that might just work if you try and whip up voters into a paralyzed state of fear over the summer. Let's just hope our voters are as smart as Spain's.