When George W. Bush ran for re-election in 2004, Democrats were outraged about him using the 9/11 attacks as a political asset, particularly regarding one ad that used imagery from the actual attacks.
If you've been anywhere around the Drudge Report this weekend, you've no doubt seen the anger amongst conservatives about what they say is President Obama "spiking the ball in the end zone" (or some other contorted metaphor), regarding his administration/re-election team's celebrating the one year anniversary Navy SEAL Team 6's assassination of Osama bin Laden, a considerable feather to add to his foreign policy portfolio.
(For the moment let's not debate that the two events are quite different – Obama's decision to act, described in detail in this week's Time magazine, actually was a risk, as it went against the wishes of Defense Secretary Bob Gates and Vice President Joe Biden. Bush's recalling 9/11 was more about evoking a sense of the moment).
The Obama folks have been running a web ad that questions whether Mitt Romney would make the same decision if he were the man in charge. Vice President Biden also said last week that "Thanks to President Obama, bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive. You have to ask yourself: If Gov. Romney had been president, could you have used the same slogan in reverse?”
That prompted Romney adviser Ed Gillespie to blast President Obama on Meet The Press on Sunday, calling the statements “a bridge too far” and “a sign of a desperate campaign."
This article appears in Apr 26 – May 2, 2012.