Now that Osama Bin Ladin has been killed under Obama's watch, people are starting to wonder how this will effect Obama's political prospects for 2012. In the immediate future it is pretty obvious that Obama will get a bump in the polls, as well as he should. From all accounts Obama chose the more gutsy plan of sending in Navy Seals rather than a Tomahawk cruise missile. The payoff is that we have proof Osama is dead.
Despite the benefits and the good will, I think the ladies of The View are way off in thinking that Obama has 2012 in the bag now. The bump Obama will receive from bagging Osama won't last all the way to November 2012. As Will Jacobson from Legal Insurrection points out 2012 is all about the economy and big government. So long as gasoline, food prices and the threat of higher taxes loom, Obama's 2012 prospects will remain shaky.
The only way I see Osama's death translating into guaranteed votes for Obama in 2012, is if we suffer another attack and Obama makes a credible case that he is the one who will get us justice. Other than that, Obama can only use the killing of Osama to deflect Republican criticism that he is weak when it comes to fighting terrorism.
For Republican's challenging Obama in 2012, the need to sharpen their attacks and messages on the economy has become even more crucial. They must also not get too far ahead of themselves in praising Obama's success. If they do, they risk taking the War On Terror completely off the table in 2012.
Via: Memeorandum
Via: Five Thirty Five blog
Via: NewsBusters
Via: Legal Insurrection