Washington, May 2 (IANS) Osama bin Laden’s dramatic killing is sure to be a great boost for US President Barack Obama, whose popularity has waned in recent times, the Los Angeles Times said Monday.
The targeted killing of the Al Qaeda chief in Pakistan’s Abbottabad city could prove ‘a singular moment for President Obama and could help his bid for a second term’, it said.
‘The calibre of his leadership, often the target of withering attacks by the Republican opposition, has now been bolstered in a very tangible way,’ it said.
‘The immediate result will almost certainly help Obama’s sagging popularity, which had returned to its lowest levels in the midst of high gas prices and even questions about the legitimacy of his presidency.
The development is ‘a great boost for him, as it would be for any president’, it quoted pollster Andrew Kohut, director of non-partisan Pew Research Centre, as saying.
‘In combination with the military surge that Obama ordered in Afghanistan and the recent attacks on Libya, the successful operation to kill bin Laden will make it much more difficult for a Republican to employ in next year’s campaign the familiar charge that Democrats are weak on defense.’
But the daily warned: ‘In purely political terms, the impact is unlikely to be as long-lasting as Democrats might hope, with the 2012 election still more than a year and a half away.
‘And it is not directly linked to the public’s top priority, which remains the domestic economy and the dearth of jobs nationwide.’
