Pirate's Cove

Of course, the Washington Post puts a positive spin on using the tragedy of 9/11 as a campaign prop, something with which they would excoriate any Republican over doing, but, hey, he’s the Lightworker: Bin Laden raid fits into Obama’s ‘big things’ message

Advisers to President Obama are tiptoeing carefully around the political bounce he received after the successful raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound, wary of appearing unseemly, convinced the boost will be temporary and confident that the event will ultimately speak for itself.

But Obama is already stitching the victory into the broader tapestry of his 2012 reelection campaign. It fits neatly into one of his core messages, that Americans are capable of tackling in­trac­table, long-term problems. “Doing big things,” as he put it in his State of the Union address.

So, we can expect his victory tour to last till November, 2012? The proof of this will be how long he continues pushing the “I killed Osama” meme in his appearances. Remember, Bush talked outwardly about how great the military folks were and about the potential for the future of Iraq when Saddam was captured; Obama talked all about how great he himself was when Osama was killed.

Before last Sunday night, Obama’s “big things” dealt mainly with reviving the sagging economy, investing in technology and infrastructure, and promoting energy independence. His examples of American resilience were anchored mostly in the past, as when he called last December for another “Sputnik moment” in demanding educational innovation.

The economy is still sputtering all these years later, his trillion dollar Porkulus was a failure, jobs are still tepid, home values are dropping, consumer prices are going up, consumer confidence is down, ObamaCare is still polling very low, and people aren’t real concerned with painting bridges and getting new choo-choo’s.

Now, however, Obama has a new case study in American exceptionalism to invoke. And although White House advisers insist they are not incorporating the bin Laden raid into their political planning for 2012, they acknowledge it has the potential to do more than simply reshape his image as a decisive leader.

Wasn’t it Obama himself who talked about America not being an exceptional country? Anyhow, Obama will have to be careful, because many in his base, after a day or two of fist pumping, are started to let their Progressive instincts rise, and talk about how it was mean to kill Osama, and may have been illegal or something.

Also, the campaign optics in using the killing of Osama would probably backfire. Obama is already known for has narcissism, and this would not help, as he is already walking a fine line with many key voting demographics.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.