The way for Kerry to navigate around the Bin Ladin tape is to co-opt it's existence into his final, inspiring message. Here's some text. Does this work?
(ahem)
"I want to say something to both democrats and republicans. The war in Iraq is no longer Bush's war. It's America's war. We must all unite to keep the promises we as a nation have made in Iraq.
"And to the world I would like to say, the war on terror is not just America's war. It's the world's struggle to bring the guilty to justice and to bring justice to the hopeless. I will lead our nation and our allies to hunt down Osama bin Laden and destroy his terrorist network, whether he's making videos or not..."
(more)
The main point is for Kerry to start taking ownership for the shitload of problems he's about to inherit. Accountability. Hence the "not Bush's war anymore" concept. The "videos" line could be dropped if it's too pandering. If this inspires you yea or nay, please say so.
...and be nice, this is my first diary!