How can Republicans portray President Obama as a wussy second coming of Jimmy Carter when he killed Osama bin Laden? By claiming that even Jimmy Carter would have killed bin Laden. 

Obama's reelection campaign is using bin Laden's death to attack Mitt Romney, suggesting he might not have made the call to take the terrorist leader out. When a voter asked Romney if he would have made the same decision, he replied, "Of course. Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order."

Some have suggested that bin Laden's death finally took Carter off the table as a Republican attack line. "The death of bin Laden undercut any hopes Republicans had of being able to paint Obama as Jimmy Carter," NBC News' First Read wrote Monday. "The man who went to Washington as an 'antiwar' president was more Teddy Roosevelt than Jimmy Carter," The New York Times' Peter Bergen wrote Sunday. This theme has been around for a year: "It’s official: Barack Obama is not Jimmy Carter," The New Republic said May 3, 2011, "President Obama dashes 'Jimmy Carter' label," was Politico's headline six days later. But no: a year later, the Jimmy Carter meme lives. Never mind that Carter said he'd be "comfortable" if Romney were elected president.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at ereeve at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Elspeth Reeve