Why the "Obama politicizing OBL" thing works
By "works" I don't mean is ultimately politically effective. I just mean "works" as in, becomes a big media whoop-de-do.
Why didn't the media treat Bush's endless politicization of the GWOT this way?
1) The media has a RW bias, of course.
2) Democrats did not make it an issue The Republicans are the crazy party and when they go crazy it is from the top. Major elected Democrats did not go on TV in 2002-2004 to suggest that Bush was a disgusting fraud. (Nadler and Waters et al are considered fringe, in media terms.) That is what makes it a story... quoting big establishment people. If Al Gore had been in the senate at the time his denunciations would not have been dismissible, for instance.
This Obama thing is an orchestrated Republican party effort. Under the chimperor there was no comparable effort by the entire Democratic party, as an institution, to delegitimize Bush. The strident criticism of Bush from all major people in office didn't come until his approval ratings were sub-Carter.