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I never understood why it was such a big deal for him to approve of the killing mission. What was he to do, disapprove of the killing? The Navy Seals took the risk, not Obama. There wasn’t much risk on his part - if the Seals got Bin Laden, Obama takes the bow. If the mission was not successful, all would have been applauded for trying, if the public even became aware of it.

It was a no-brainer.

Bill Clinton in the campaign ad goes on about the political risk to Obama if it failed. Nonsense. We now know he had it set up to blame someone else if it failed. At any rate, if it had failed, either the story would have been suppressed or it would have been a 48-hour story. It would not have been an election issue.

Jimmy Carter's attempt to rescue the hostages in Iran was much more risky, and even though it was a disaster, I don't think it played much of a role in November 1980. His inability to get the hostages home hurt, but that was just one item among several that hurt him--inflation, high interest rates, general ineptitude, "malaise."