With regard to the political implications of Osama bin Laden’s
killing, Jim Antle
writes, “I don’t think it guarantees President Obama a second
term as it would have done for George W. Bush from 2001-04, but it
has certainly strengthened his hand.”
Jim is right to say this doesn’t guarantee Obama’s re-election.
After all, the election is still 18 months away and anything could
happen. But barring a catastrophe it becomes increasingly difficult
to see how Obama can lose. And by catastrophe I am talking about an
even bigger financial meltdown than the one experienced in 2008. If
there was another terrorist attack in this country on the scale of
9/11 or greater in retaliation for bin Laden’s killing I believe
the nation would rally around Obama (unless he were to handle it
abysmally.) The electorate is more likely to turn on Obama over our
pocketbooks rather than over our security.
The magnitude of bin Laden’s killing is such that it
makes Donald Trump’s efforts to question Obama’s legitimacy look
petty and stupid. The emotional outpouring that has come about as a
result simply cannot be ignored. The spontaneous celebrations will,
of course, soon pass. Nevertheless, people will invariably
associate bin Laden’s demise with President Obama. As long as that
is the case the electorate will be strongly inclined to give Obama
another four years in office.
