Killing bin Laden: Did Obama just win re-election in 2012?

The death of the al Qaeda leader is being hailed as a victory for the president, but can it assure him another term? Pundits are already weighing in...

The death of bin Laden may be a political victory for Obama, but when it comes to the 2012 presidential elections, critics say, the economy will still be the deciding factor.
(Image credit: Corbis)

President Obama's politically "pivotal" announcement that U.S. forces had killed Osama bin Laden may go down as "the defining moment" of his presidency, according to Washington watchers. Obama's prospects for re-election in 2012 "skyrocketed" on one online prediction market, and pollster John Zogby says the president's approval rating could jump 10 percentage points or more. But whatever the short-term gains, will killing bin Laden be enough to assure Obama a second term 19 months from now?

This is a huge coup for Obama: The "political potency" of the president's announcement is hard to underestimate, says John Nichols in The Nation. Obama clearly tried to emphasize the personal role he played in the mission, and his team should be able to spin this "into political gold." It would be "silly" to think that the Obama love fest will "continue unhindered" through the election, but Republicans will have a much harder time "portraying the president as disengaged or dysfunctional when it comes to foreign policy."

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