Obama strategy of taking credit for Osama bin Laden killing is risky, some observers say

[alp227]

(BAD BELTWAY JOURNALISM ALERT!)

In a series of videos and speeches leading up to the Wednesday anniversary of the raid, the Obama campaign, through high-profile proxies such as Vice President Biden and former president Bill Clinton, has made the president the star of the story. Biden and others have also suggested that Obama’s rival, the presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney, would not have pursued bin Laden with the same determination.

“He deserves the right to crow about it a little, but he has to be careful, given how many other issues are out there, even on the counterterrorism front,” said Michael E. O’Hanlon, a senior foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution.

O’Hanlon said that if there is a terrorist attack against the United States or other foreign policy failures before Election Day, “it would look odd in the midst of all this self-congratulation over bin Laden.”

“But if the election does turn on the economy, for a Democratic president, that’s already progress,” O’Hanlon continued. “To inoculate oneself against foreign policy attack should not be underrated as a political accomplishment.”

Obama campaigned four years ago on a pledge to end partisanship in Washington, and some analysts say the new focus he has placed on his role in the bin Laden killing may undermine that image in the minds of swing voters who proved decisive in 2008.

The most-recommended online comment:

The only reason Obama is doing this is because Romney is trying to say Obama is weak on terrorism and foreign affairs. Meanwhile, Fox talking heads are stating things like Obama really had no input into the entire event and that he was on the sidelines.

We know now, from the Time article, that this was not the case at all. Obama's decisiveness lead to the killing of the most wanted terrorist on the planet. He should be proud. The fact that the GOP would try to spin it any other way is terrible.

Should Obama parade around about it? No. Should he get credit and be able to talk about it on the campaign? Yes.

[kentuck]

1. It's risky for the Republicans...

Because that is the strongest card that Obama has in the deck. If they can get people to not talk about it, that is to their advantage. Or if they can get people to believe it is unfair to talk about such issues, then that is to their advantage. Of course, they never hesitated to use the "Mission Accomplished" sign to their advantage after Saddam Hussein was killed. It's called hypocrisy of the highest magnitude.

[bigdarryl]

2. Where were they when Bush was taking credit for 911 during the 2004 election

Which by the way killed 3000 plus Americans.

[jaysunb]

3. Lets see: pitch a no hitter, win the super bowl

ace your SAT test, win the triple crown, discover the cure for cancer, but don't talk about it...you might hurt some ones feelings. Hmmmmm


[IMG][/IMG]
By [URL=http://profile.imageshack.us/user/jaysunb1]jaysunb1[/URL] at 2011-05-03

[Whiskeytide]

11. Exactly...

... But the fact that we're even talking about whether we should be talking about it simply demonstrates how completely they control the narrative.

[kentuck]

12. Exactly !

The media sucks big time! Ed Gillespie makes a comment on MTP and the media takes it as marching orders to follow his command....

[jaysunb]

17. Precisely !

[uponit7771]

4. If the "observers" are true liberals then they are forgetting what the GOP would do if things went

...wrong

If the "observers" who are concerned are GOPers then who gives a fuck

[liberal N proud]

5. The only risk is that Romney will then claim it was his idea.

[Carla in Sequim]

19. YES!

He isn't being smug about it either. But you bet he should keep reminding all of us about this 'mission accomplished'. And, speaking of that, just how much did THAT stunt cost us taxpayers?

Also, why don't we double down ourselves and talk about the pirates he had taken out? Remember?

[gratuitous]

6. For if it prosper, none care call it treason

Lonely voices in the wilderness, fixated on quaint old documents, when everybody else is feeling so good about it all. Quit harshing everyone's mellow, cancha?

[Politicalboi]

7. Now let's imagine

Obama sent the Navy Seals, and they lost half the crew, and it wasn't Osama bin Laden. Can we talk about it then?????????? Fuckers. They're just jealous, and cry babies. Does Bay of Pigs mean anything? Had Kennedy lived, that would have been hung around his neck in 64.

[sinkingfeeling]

8. "...he was on the sidelines." Well, Obama had a larger part in bin Laden than

St. Ronnie did in 'bringing down the USSR'!

[Rex]

9. BULLSHIT.

The RW nail bitters are going to have to accept the fact that a DEM did something their failed leadership could not do in 8 years.

[renate]

10. I think that when Obama talks about it he should always be sure to mention the SEALs who did it

The GOP could hardly get their knickers in a twist if he gives the credit to the guys who carried out the operation. Especially if he does it in a modest way, like "The decision to go after Osama bin Laden was a tough one, but my job is to make tough decisions. The real credit goes to the men who risked their lives and did their job flawlessly and bravely."

[Common Sense Party]

14. +1000

[Lost-in-FL]

13. Eating a fatty burger is risky too. nt

[Dawson Leery]

15. The only "risk" is that this makes the GOP look bad.

The Obama Team did what the Republican Bush Team could not due.

These are the same Republicans who exploited 9/11 to get everything they wanted.

[SugarShack]

16. Really???? While GW and his minions like Rudy did ads his going to war for 911, showing fireman,etc.

that was all just fine....until the guy who finishes it? so much for the "necessity" of endless war and U.S. treasure. This is the other side, to why there are NO PARADES for our veterans. It reminds people of where we're at in the war....and we must keep the money train going for the war profiteers! So hide it all...and any victories should be shunned in publc. This post is a disgrace, as unhappy as i am,,,im not going here.

[spanone]

18. 'some observers say'