Who was classier when bragging about taking out bad guys: George Bush or Barack Obama? Politico's Josh Gerstein reports Republicans and Democrats are accusing each other of lacking a certain subtlety in their terrorist talking points. The Obama reelection campaign has been highlighting Osama bin Laden's death in a new ad, in Joe Biden's campaign speech this week, and in an interview with NBC News Thursday in the Situation Room. Mitt Romney's campaign said Obama was politicizing the al Qaeda leader's death. Chris Lehane (former spokesman for John Kerry) countered that Republicans were in no position to criticize anyone for politicizing national security after their message in the 2004 election. Former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer said that just shows the "double standard" because "President Bush could barely use the number 9/11 in a sentence without somebody accusing him of politicizing 9/11." 

If we remember correctly, it wasn't that Bush danced in the end zone as much as his allies did. If you look at Bush's speech announcing the capture of Saddam Hussein, it's not all that different from Obama's speech announcing the death of bin Laden.

2003:

A year ago:

Usually it's the guys outside the White House who do most of the fist-pumping:

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Elspeth Reeve