The election had EVERYTHING to do with the denial for help. He was afraid of a ‘Carter Iran rescue failure’ consequence for his campaign. He sacrificed four American lives for his campaign.
The thing is, even a failed rescue attempt is better than none, politically. It shows you tried not to leave anyone behind. People understand that in the fog of the situation, not all rescue attempts succeed. But we want the military to try.
I think this is oddly related to Obama being anti-life. He really does think some lives don’t matter as much as others, I guess. Our culture, at its gut level, does not view it that way.